CYBER THREAT; Kenya's cyber attacks hit more than 56 million in Q2 2020

In efforts to create a safer online CA yesterday launched an interactive portal that

 will provide online safety tips for children and guardians

In Summary

• This represents a 59 per cent increase from 35.2 million threats detected in the previous quarter.
• The increase in cyber crimes was recorded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which saw many people operate online and increased uptake of e-commerce

Communications Authority of Kenya acting director general Mercy Wanjau, ICT chief Administrative secretary Maureen Mbaka and Safaricom Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Steve Chege launch interactive portal for safer online environment during Safer Internet Day celebrations at CA Center, Nairobi on February 9, 2021

Kenya reported more than 56 million cyber threats for the quarter ended December 2020, according to latest Communication Authority (CA) data.

This is a 59 per cent increase from 35.2 million threats detected in the previous quarter.

Malware attacks were the highest at 46 million, followed by web application attacks at 7.8 million while 2.2 million Distributed Denial of Service(DDOS) out of the threats detected by the National Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Centre.

A DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack is a malicious attempt to make a server or a network resource unavailable to users.

It is achieved by saturating a service, which results in its temporary suspension or interruption.

The increase in cyber crime was recorded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which saw many people operate online and increased uptake of e-commerce.

“The pandemic is one of the major reasons of the increased cyber crime as many people accessed services online, however as a country we are moving towards digital transformation therefore we are working to ensure people learn to safeguard themselves in the digital space,” said CA acting Director General Mercy Wanjau

The pandemic is one of the major reasons of the increased cyber crime as many people accessed services online, however as a country we are moving towards digital transformation therefore we are working to ensure people learn to safeguard themselves in the digital space

Ag. Director General, Communication Authority

To create a safer online the  authority in partnership with local telecommunications service providers yesterday launched an interactive portal to provide online safety tips for children and guardians.

Wanjau said the public would use the platform to report any cases of child online abuse, which will be directly channelled to CA for necessary action.

The public can also access information about other organisations that offer support for children, including Childline Kenya, Kenya Association of Professional Counsellors, The Cradle and the Children’s department.

The ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru expressed concern on possible increase in the volume of cyber crime in the country in the lead up to the upcoming BBI referendum and the 2022 general elections, and urged the CA to boost its detection and monitoring capacity to mitigate the risk.

“Abuse and exploitation of children is unacceptable and should generally not be protected even by free speech principles. In the Internet world, further protections are also needed to shield children from predators, who may contact them through deceptive enticements in online forums,” the ICT CS said.

He called on CA to liaise with relevant state agencies and private sector players to manage escalating cases of cybercrime.

According to global cybersecurity firm–Kaspersky, Kenya is among African countries facing a possible increase in cybercrime in 2021, amid economic uncertainty occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the increase in these crimes will vary by country, African nations must prepare themselves for the inevitability of increases in malware that already topped 28 million by August last year, according to Kaspersky research.

Kaspersky security solutions in September reported 28 million malware attacks in 2020 and 102 million detections of potentially unwanted programs (pornware, adware among others), where South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria were the most affected.