[kictanet] Kenya's new registry system

Thu Jun 19 17:26:46 EAT 2008

Security was 1 of the items I talked about. There is a thin line between security being used as a wrong excuse not to implement a system and where it's a real concern.

Anyway if all appropriate measures have been taken then it's OK. As I said, I appreciate that effort by the Gvmnt.

--- On Thu, 6/19/08, Brian Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com> wrote:
From: Brian Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya's new registry system
To: kiriinya2000 at yahoo.com
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008, 11:48 AM

I would like to balance this discussion by pointing out a historical fact.....

Due to "security" concerns our country was held back from a liberalised telecoms industry for years.

There were a lot of misplaced fears which originated from blanket generalisations of new technology and a fear of loss of control by the powers that be.

When I set up KIXP at the end of 2000, it was shut down within two weeks because Telkom Kenya insinuated that it presented a national security risk. It took us one whole year to educate, enlighten and lobby almost every component of the Executive in order to get KIXP re-opened.

Today it is considered a 'national resource' and KRA even wants to have it gazetted so that it can receive 24-hour physical security since it plays such an integral part of Kenya's economy.

I am not saying that we should blind ourselves to the consideration of security concerns, just that it is very easy to further delays innovation and development with hyped up discussions about security (or more appropriately insecurity).

best,

Brian

-- 
Brian Munyao Longwe
e-mail: blongwe at gmail.com
cell: + 254 722 518 744
blog : zinjlog.blogspot.com

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 11:40 PM, Judy Okite <judyokite at gmail.com> wrote:

Gentlemen,

all your arguments are in place.....unfortunately we do not have a cyber crime law in place nor a data privacy law...(subject to be corrected)....so before we go very far.....we need to make Kenyans understand....

1. What is personal/private data?....very few understand that and why it may need to be protected...

2. what are the implications of the data,that this, system will hold, in the hands of a third party?...from here...we can ask for a document for public scrutiny.....what security measures...are in place...etc

Kind Regards,

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 1:06 PM,  <tyrus at icsit.jkuat.ac.ke> wrote:

Wesley,

I totally agree with you on this point.

Its one thing to set up a system where you will have citizens access their

details and its another entirely different thing to ensure its security is

not compromised. Even as these guys come up with this revolutionary

system, am sure they have security in mind and even more importantly have

taken the necessary steps to ensuring that its not compromised. What I

always have qualms with as you are well aware of in skunkworks, is the

reluctance by the developers or system operators to provide room for

Independent Penetration Testing. Granted this is not a panacea for

hack-proofing the system but will make the system devoid of common

vulnerabilities like what we saw in the ipo website.

In America, identity theft has occurred even on their secure servers alike

but if you look at the frequency, its relatively low since tests are

carried out on the system very often and when loop holes are discovered

relevant authorities are informed.

Its a very novel idea the Government is pursuing but even as we speak

there are notable Govt bodies whose IT infrastructure's security is very

sketchy. If there was a dedicated body in the ICT Board to dedicatedly

look into security issues regarding IT growth and implementation, I guess

there would be standards set even when putting a very basic implementation

like a web-site.

Regards,

"fyodor"

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