[kictanet] How secure is our information in government offices?

[Barrack Otieno]

Well, Security is relative and it is a cultural issue, real government
information is still in documents which have not yet been digitized i am
sure the much you can fish out is Solitaire, nonetheless this is a wake up
call. FYI Paul i think we have a CERT in Kenya (Computer emergency Response
Team), what is not clear is how Kenyan like you who are sufficiently
philanthrophic can participate in its activities, you have a valid point
though.

Best Regards

On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:34 AM, Kipkemoi arap Kirui
<arapkirui at gmail.com>wrote:

> P. R Owino,
>
> The other issue of concern is the rise in the number of foreign governments
> and agencies literally falling over each other competing to donate computers
> to state institutions. Can someone stop this?
>
> Kipkemoi arap Kirui
>
> On 22 February 2011 11:01, Paul Roy <roykoikai at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>>
>> Been watching keenly with grave concern our public
>> institutions falling victims of numerous security attacks. The defacement
>> of government
>> websites has just but opened the eyes of the general public as to how
>> insecure
>> our data and information within these offices are.
>>
>> Unfortunately going beyond defacement of public websites,
>> there are untold stories of viruses, malware, rootkits, Trojans, data
>> breaches,
>> illegal and unauthorized access to information, intrusion, DoS attacks and
>> any
>> more going on.
>>
>> Indeed a simple analysis has proven most government
>> computers and laptops do not have simple line of defense i.e. passwords.
>> In cases
>> where they are passwords, they are shared and are very simple to crack.
>> Further,
>> lack of Information Security policy hampers development of proper security
>> roadmap and strategy.
>>
>> In areas where counter measures have been put in place, the
>> staff lack skills to maintain these systems, and in the long run are
>> incapable
>> of dealing with new emerging threats thus renders the counter measure
>> ineffective.
>>
>> I believe this is due to lack of guidance from government
>> institutions tasked with providing either services or framework policy.
>> Both
>> KICTB and Directorate of e-Government should work together to come up with
>> a
>> quick solution to this persistent issue. As we look at this, it would be
>> good
>> to keep in mind that technology alone cannot solve all incidents related
>> to security.
>> We need to evaluate both people skills and processes in place. In regards
>> to
>> people skills, it would be advisable to engage experienced consultants in
>> the
>> field of Information Security to work together with government to properly
>> skill them.
>>
>> In conclusion I believe this country has some of the best
>> skills currently in the private sector, we need to take a lead role in
>> contributing our knowledge and skills towards improving security in our
>> public
>> sector institutions and Government in general.
>>
>>
>> Paul Roy Owino, CISSP, CISA, CISM, CEH, MCITP.
>>
>> Technology Strategist, Microsoft Corp.
>>
>>
>>
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>
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-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
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