[kictanet] Fibre Optic & Cyber Security, March 2009

[alice]

Hi Pauline and all

I am weary of jumping into development of cyber security laws.

Lets see..... your cell phone helps you keep in touch with family and 
friends, but it also makes it easier for the CID to track your location, 
your Google searches might seem secret, known only to you but by logging 
your on line activities, companies are creating a honey pot of personal 
information, potentially available to any party with a court order.

Infrastructure and technology are not the real problem it’s the laws 
that have yet to catch security and privacy. So as we develop 
infrastructure, adopt technologies and create communities that are 
empowered to use ICTs our lives will change, we will begin to do more – 
on-line leaving a lot of private information behind in databases stored 
on internet connected servers.

While many companies that conduct their businesses online struggle to 
develop technology and applications to protect this information, is this 
enough? Should we develop laws on cyber security?

The other side of the coin….the internet has created one of the most 
democratic spaces by providing the creation of private on line spaces. 
Being able to discuss issues in “safe spaces”

Will cyber security legislation threaten this new form of democracy?

Found this article By Gus Hosein, Privacy International 
<http://www.privacyinternational.org/> interesting: “The Birth and Rise 
of International Conventions on Cybercrime, the Five-Act Tragi-Comedie”

http://www.apc.org/english/rights/privacy/treaties_icc_hosein.shtml


best

alice



Pauline Muthigani wrote:
> Walu,
> True, Kenya and the whole region have become the preferred destination for
> executing cyber crimes . Top on the agenda for the ICT fraternity, and the
> board  should be to see to it that the e-legislation bill is passed and
> enacted much sooner than 2009.
>
>  My experience with ICT investors especially in eCommerce and eBusiness,
> confirms that unless the Cyber Security issues are dealt with(
> investigations and prosecutions etc), Broadband or no Broadband , Kenya
> still is not a competitive destination as we would wish her to be.Even
> for the really great digital village initiatives, the risk is high
> there..I hope the owners are being made aware.
>
> What we need is a 'conducive environment and security assured
> infrastructure' the rest will fit in.
>
> The Dubai model is worth borrowing a leaf from.
>
> First things first.
>
> rgds,
> Pauline
>
>
>   
>> Security is going to be a mega-issue once the submarine
>> fiber lands in Mombasa. At the moment Kenya is spared the
>> full-scale exposure from international cyber crooks simply
>> because our slow satellite links don't lend themselves to
>> modern tools of cyber-attacks.
>>
>> Here is my macro-projection of what will occur on the
>> internet-security landscape in March 2009 or thereabout
>> when the submarine cable is launched.
>>
>> 1. Continued delay of national and regional legislation
>> makes Kenya and E.Africa a safe-haven for cyber-crooks.
>>
>> {following the delayed debate and enactment of the
>> pre-requisite Cyber-legislations (e-Transaction Act,
>> Cyber-crime Act, Data-protection Act, etc) Kenya has become
>> the preferred destination for executing cyber crimes and
>> getting away with it. The crooks are taking advantage of
>> the lack of legislation as well as the incapacity for the
>> authorities to investigate, collect, preserve digital
>> evidence as well as prosecute cyber-crime.
>>
>> The newly launched submarine cables seem to have provided a
>> conducive superhighway for the crooks to deploy there tools
>> from the comfort of their Chinese, Eastern Europe and other
>> territories.  The Kenya Government seems to have been
>> caught off-guard and the Internal Security Minister could
>> not be reached for comment because he was holed up in a
>> crisis-meeting....}
>>
>> 2. Local domains hosting critical national infrastructure
>> get hit (Banking, KRA, Immigration, Medical Data)
>>
>> {....In particular, the successful deployment of
>> eGovernment initiatives such as KRA, KPA, Banking, Medical
>> and other data have become a soft-target for the criminals.
>>   They
>>     
>
>
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