[kictanet] My take on the CCK "spying" saga: A small step for Government but a leap for Kenya

[Brian Munyao Longwe]

My take on the CCK "spying" saga: A small step for Government but a leap
for Kenya
http://zinjlog.blogspot.com/2012/03/small-step-for-government-but-leap-for.html?spref=tw

Today a story broken by the Daily Nation had the sensational headline "CCK
Sparks Row with Fresh Bid to Spy on Internet
Users<http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate+News/CCK+sparks+row+with+fresh+bid+to+spy+on+Internet+users+/-/539550/1370218/-/tw1ikp/-/index.html>".
The story has triggered a very lively debate both in conventional broadcast
as well as online media. While many feel threatened about the alleged
invasion of their privacy, some of the more clued up are welcoming this
development. The 'row' alluded to by the author the DN article seems to be
attributed to some telecoms service providers reactions towards letters
received from the CCK requiring them to cooperate in the installation of
internet traffic monitoring equipment which the article refers to as
"Network Early Warning System (NEWS)". Apparently CCK has clearly stated
that the system will support the country's ability to detect and facilitate
response to possible cyber threats.

Kenya as a country has had her fair share of threats, both online or in the
form of cyber-threats as well as in real life. The most significant of
these was the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi which took place on
August 8th 1998 (a day before my wedding!) and resulted in the deaths of
hundreds of people. The bombing, which took place simultaneously with a
similar attack in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania was attributed to Al-Qaeda, the
fundamentalist terrorist group associated with Osama bin Laden. The 1998
incident cast a spotlight on Kenya's low level of preparedness to deal with
major disasters and also raised a lot of questions about our ability as a
country to gather intelligence and act on it.

A grenade blast which killed
two<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3117817.stm> and
and led to the near capture of one of the most wanted Al-Qaeda terrorists
at a cybercafe in Mombasa in 2003 in an operation carried out jointly
betweenKenyan and CIA
operatives<http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/11/army-years-of-work-led-to-al-qaida-target-112111w/>
was
a result of close coordination between security agencies as well as the use
of "high tech gear, low tech human intelligence and courage". Part of the
high tech gear involved in this operation allowed the security officers to
track and monitor "patterns" of online communication that allowed them to
close in on the terrorists. In this incident and a few other similar ones
it has always been reported that the "Kenyan authorities used information
provided by" [foreign nation], why can't we have our own capability to
gather such information? Especially when it seems that the terrorists use
online technologies for much of their planning.

It is therefore my opinion that the move by Kenya to improve her ability to
detect and facilitate response to cyber-threats is a small step for the
Government but a huge leap for the country. This exercise, coupled with the
impending setup of the Kenya Computer Incident Response Team Coordination
Centre (KE-CIRT/CC) with support from the
ITU<http://www.cck.go.ke/news/2012/KE-CIRT_signing.html> will
go a long way towards enhancing the Government's obligation to protect her
citizens.

-- 
Brian Munyao Longwe
e-mail: blongwe at gmail.com
cell:  +254715964281
blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com

"Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand
for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything."
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