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Kenya alone is reported to have more than 30 percent of medicines sold in the country being fake, resulting in potentially life threatening consequences.
Bethwel Opil, Channel Sales Manager for East Africa at Kaspersky Lab, said: “With the reality of fraud instances growing in Africa, coupled with the growth of technology innovation and broadband access in Kenya, it must be noted that fraud in the Healthcare sector is merely just one example of how fraudulent activity can affect consumers and business alike.
“In fact, the same realities exist in the software market and at Kaspersky Lab, we are dedicated to educating consumers about the impact of using grey and fraudulent products, in an aim to protect our users.”
Security and fraud threats also extend to IT Security threats which Kaspersky Labs see growing in numbers by the day. According to IT Security company's data, their products have to date “detected and neutralised over one billion threats in Q3 of 2012 alone”.
Opil added: “Such realities prove a clear case for a stronger focus on why consumers should use effective security solutions – to ensure their encounter online is safe and protected. As a result, to ensure the protection of their online environment we stress that the purchasing of effective security solutions is done through an authorised and legal channel.”
This point by Opil stresses the importance of why consumers should purchase legal products as opposed to those that are “grey/free or have been purchased for a cheaper cost through an illegal channel”.
With “illegal” products, normally the customer experience is below par and the full level of protection cannot be fully received or guaranteed.
“It is for this reason as to why at Kaspersky Lab we are not only passionate about educating consumers on the topic of IT Security, but stress the importance of not making use of manipulated or grey type products, as full protection cannot be guaranteed,” he said.
For example, when using Kaspersky Lab's IT Security products consumers benefit from the inclusion of Kaspersky’s Security Network (KSN) - a service that gives access to the Kaspersky Lab knowledge base which is dedicated to assigning reputation to files, Internet resources and software, as well as software security updates that take place on a regular basis, to protect the device at all times.
Opil concluded: “We want to educate consumers on the risks they take when using grey products or products purchased through an illegal distribution channel – to highlight the fact that they won’t fully benefit from all the benefits and security features that the products have to offer, as essentially it may very well not be the real product.”
