The Kenya National Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (KNCERTCC), a body set up to fight cybercrime in Kenya, is now operational, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has announced.
Michael Katundu, Director of Information Technology at the CCK, confirmed the news in a speech from the commission’s director Francis Wangusi at the East Africa Cyber Security Convention yesterday (Tuesday).
Katundu said internet access in Kenya was the backbone of developments in the country, but added all these gains were being endangered by the rise in cyber threats in Kenya.
There have been issues of impersonation on email and social media, database breaches in companies, copyright infringement online and mobile transfer fraud. Local banks have also become targets of cybercrime with computer virus attacks and phishing attacks on the rise.
Best practice is for countries to put in place policies and laws by regulatory bodies. The Kenya Information and Communication Act requires the country to have CERT and it has been implemented in partnership the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Katundu encouraged other sectors to form their own CERT bodies to curb the specific dangers that they face with technology. He said that, for example, financial institutions and telecommunication bodies can form their own emergency response team and the KNCERTCC will work in collaboration with them.
Although the world sees government involvement in the Internet as a way to censor it, Katundu said it is important for public bodies as well as private companies to work together to reduce risks on the Net.
The CCK has, however, not disclosed the full report on how the new body will function in Kenya.
