[kictanet] NSA Tapping into Google & Yahoo Networks? How is Kenya protected?

Thu Oct 31 16:49:32 EAT 2013

>>On Thu, 10/31/13, Phares Kariuki <pkariuki at gmail.com> wrote:
We need to bring the latter back home simply because the US has proven it cannot be trusted… It’s not that the galvanised internet is the best option, it’s simply a compromise because some people have broken trust… 

>>
I totally agree. I am for local content, local hosting, local, local this and the other.  What I find difficult to understand is the myth that once something is local, then it is safer.

We need to be careful not to mix security with being local. Let us have two independent tracks on the issues.  Lets build local content to increase uptake, reduce latency, perhaps pricing, etc.  But I would hate to imagine our NSIS director briefing our President that we are very secure because we have made all our ICT infrastructure local.

ICT Security is often discussed under CIA - Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (not central intelligence agency :-). I want to believe the geographic location of your data cannot save you, if your CIA procedures are poor. So if we want to be secure, lets put the emphasis where it should be.

walu.
nb: Osama bin laden was as local and as manual as you can get. US folks still smoked him out.

--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 10/31/13, Phares Kariuki <pkariuki at gmail.com> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [kictanet] NSA Tapping into Google & Yahoo Networks? How is Kenya protected?
 To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu at yahoo.com>
 Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 Date: Thursday, October 31, 2013, 11:58 AM

 Search engines will be
 largely unaffected btw. Search engines don’t go through
 your mail etc… 
 The internet services that
 are centralised will remain centralised (basic web
 hosting/blogs etc). However, mail, internal applications etc
 still have to be secured… 
 There’s data that we
 don’t mind being publicly accessible (e.g. The Nation
 Media Group website), and there’s data that the NSA/Search
 engines etc should not have access to (e.g. My banking
 records, my health records etc). 
 We need to bring the
 latter back home simply because the US has proven it cannot
 be trusted… It’s not that the galvanised internet is the
 best option, it’s simply a compromise because some people
 have broken trust…  -- 
 Phares Kariuki
  From: Walubengo
 J Walubengo
 J
 Reply: Walubengo J jwalu at yahoo.com
 Date: October 31, 2013 at
 11:10:34 AM
 To: Phares Kariuki pkariuki at gmail.com
 Subject:  Re: [kictanet] NSA
 Tapping into Google & Yahoo Networks? How is Kenya
 protected? 
  @Phares,

 this line of thinking was has been explored recently at the
 IGF and I had a different angle to it and I quote:

 >>

 Whereas having each economy build its own email, social
 media and other web-based systems may provide national pride
 and a debatable sense of national security, it unfortunately
 goes towards balkanising the Internet along existing
 national geographic boundaries.

 The final effect will be a diminished value for online
 services. Search engines will end up with only a localised
 or national view of data, as opposed to the more
 international view currently enjoyed by keeping the Internet
 open and global.

 >>>

 more  

 @
 http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/Lessons-from-the-Global-Internet-Governance-Forum/-/1959700/2051402/-/ouee6l/-/index.html

 walu.

 --------------------------------------------

 On Thu, 10/31/13, Phares Kariuki <pkariuki at gmail.com>
 wrote:

  Subject: Re: [kictanet] NSA Tapping into Google & Yahoo
 Networks? How is Kenya protected?

  To: jwalu at yahoo.com

  Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions"
 <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>

  Date: Thursday, October 31, 2013, 10:09 AM

  I’ll very selfishly

  advocate for an increased uptake of local cloud services,

  away from the NSA’s prying eyes, with locally established

  standards of encryption etc… 

  We’ve got capable

  universities that can assist in coming up with new

  encryption etc standards for the military &

  government. 

  Interesting article by

  Charles

  Obbo…. http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Spy-more-on-your-friends-than-foes/-/440808/2053660/-/j8oy4g/-/index.html

   -- 

  Phares Kariuki

   From: Ngigi

  Waithaka Ngigi Waithaka

  Reply: Ngigi Waithaka

  ngigi at at.co.ke

  Date: October 31, 2013 at

  9:12:10 AM

  To: Phares Kariuki pkariuki at gmail.com

  Subject:  [kictanet] NSA

  Tapping into Google & Yahoo Networks? How is Kenya

  protected?  

  Listers,

  Just came across
 this http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html?hpid=z1

  It looks like Google might have been caught by the NSA

  with

  their pants down since hacking into their Data Transport

  layer

  simply gives up all the secrets that encryption is supposed

  to be

  protecting.

  Now, moving on swiftly to the local setup, I am also

  concerned

  that even as we look to start pushing for National
 Standards

  of

  Encryption through the PKI project, whether we as a country

  have

  come together to review and see how to protect our
 countries

  intelligence and data.

  We also know for a fact that the US was busy tapping

  into

  World Leaders phones, and I can bet if there are a few

  presidents

  to be 'tapped' in Africa, ours should be way up on

  that

  ladder!

  However, more worrying would be, how protected are our

  internal networks from such tapping, even from locals?
 Could

  there

  be a guy who has tapped into Safaricoms internal network
 and

  is

  busy reading every email, chat that is flying through and

  perhaps

  selling such information to our erstwhile enemies the

  Al-Shabbab?

  I was once very surprised when a personal friend got a

  transcript of all his calls, and chat messages,

  word-for-word for

  the previous past 6 months, dug up from one of the local

  Telcos.

  The ease with which such information was availed appalled
 me

  as it

  clearly means that the Telcos clearly store all our chats,

  and such

  records in clear text months after we have used them and a

  guy with

  basic SQL knowledge just needs to hack into the network

  (easy) and

  call them up.

  So, as we continue with the PKI project, there are

  really very

  basic things on security of data that we as a nation

  haven't even

  dealt with.

  --

  Regards,

  Waithaka

  Ngigi

  Chief Executive Officer

  | Alliance

  Technologies | MCK Nairobi

  Synod

  Building

  T +

  254 (0)

  20 2333 471 |Office

  Mobile: +254 786 28 28 28 | M +

  254 737 811 000

  www.at.co.ke

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  The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a

  multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions

  interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The

  network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT

  sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth

  and development.

  KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of
 acceptable

  behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect

  people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge,
 don't flame

  or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do

  not market your wares or qualifications.