Kenya Cyber Security Report 2015 Cyber Security Perspective from the Cyber Security Sector Evanson Ikua | Information Security Consultant N othing fascinates me more than technology. While going through my old trash when moving house last year, I came across a few things that I had forgotten still existed. One of them was my High School ID card and the second was my Postbank book. The latter reminded me of my college days when I would bank my boom and gradually withdraw the same as needed. Every time I needed to deposit or withdraw some money, I had to carry along my savings book to the Bank and the teller would record my transactions on that book and also record my balance. Losing the book meant a tedious process for the bank to go into the ledgers to manually reconcile my records. That was in the early nineties. It still amazes me that we could still arrange and keep dates using telephone booths. Fast forward to 2015. Today I do my banking on my cellphone while watching a documentary at home and pay my way through life using the same cellphone. I check my official e-mail on my cellphone and play music in the car from my cellphone. I chat with my clan, college friends, neighbours and colleagues and exchange information in real time from my cellphone. Technology brings new opportunities to tackle life and business challenges. But these opportunities come at a cost and new risks. These risks need to be managed effectively while ensuring that we gain the maximum benefit out of our technology investments, while keeping our data safe. From savings books to cloud computing and big data, the Government has not been left behind. The Government of Kenya computerisation efforts of the last two decades are now starting to have a direct impact on Wanjiku. In line with cutting edge technology, government systems are starting to integrate and talk to each other. Early this year, I was able to renew my driving license online without having to leave my desk. I also managed to renew my passport online and only had to visit the Immigration Department for them to take my current photo. This is a great step forward for accessing government services. It is a clear indication that the Government is indeed serious with digital service delivery. In this regard, the launch of the e-citizen portal which brings together multiple Government agencies in one pane of glass is a huge step in the right direction. This has been adequately complemented by the Huduma Centres which are coming in handy for those citizens who may not be very digital savvy. Since last year, The National Treasury has been rolling out the e-Procurement portal linked to the Integrated Financial Information Management System (IFMIS), through which all Government procurement has been put online. E-procurement has also been rolled out to County Governments, Parastatals and public Universities. The benefits of this to the tax payer are immense in terms of the efficiency and accountability that it brings. One of the biggest challenges to this and other Government systems is user acceptance, especially by Government officers in some quarters who were used to the old ways and other players who may want to scuttle these efforts for their own pecuniary gains. The other challenge is security. While implementing cyber security is a resource intensive activity, organisations soon find out that to not implement is even more costly. The starting point of implementing a cyber security program is situational awareness. Currently, there is a criminal investigation going on regarding an alleged theft of public money at the National Youth Service where about Ksh 700 million is alleged to have been stolen by NYS officers in collusion with Ministry officers and suppliers, through the IFMIS system. The investigation of this cyber crime will bring to the fore the capacity situation for cyber crime and computer forensics investigation in Kenya, both at the investigating agencies and in the judicial system. The IFMIS system in this case will greatly help in terms of the inbuilt application security mechanisms by way of providing logs and an audit trail regarding the transactions. Gone are the days of lost files. While many Government agencies have rolled out world class systems to deliver services to citizens, the current focus is now on building capacity to manage these solutions and also to increase the capability maturity of these systems. Of great importance in this regard will be performance management so that the Government can be able to clearly measure progress against key performance indicators in system implementation and integration, a key component of IT Governance. The ICT Authority is doing a commendable job in this regard with their efforts to ensure that standards are followed, drawing from private sector skills and experience, as well as fast tracking more advanced training to develop a larger pool of IT Engineers with requisite skills. One area they may need to give closer consideration is the faster adoption of shared services especially in the area of Cyber Security to bridge the resource gap. 28