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An alarming surge in cyberattacks in Kenya a staggering 860 million incidents recorded in the past year, has called for greater vigilance from the communication regulator
An alarming surge in cyberattacks in Kenya, with a staggering 860 million incidents recorded in the past year, has called for greater vigilance from the communication regulator. The escalating frequency of cyberattacks, their sophistication, and the scale of these cyber threats are increasingly becoming a threat to net users as well as authorities. Cyber hackers are mainly targeting Kenya’s critical information infrastructure. The cyber threat is also a drag on the country’s effort to emerge as a powerful digital economy.
Back in 2017, Kenya faced 7.7 million cyberattacks, highlighting the significant increase over the past four years. One notable incident in July saw a high-profile cyberattack attributed to the pro-Russian hacking group Anonymous Sudan.
This attack disrupted access to more than 5,000 online government services in Kenya, affecting crucial functions such as visa, passport, and driver’s license applications and renewals. The assault also crippled online train booking systems and mobile money transactions.
The Communications Authority of Kenya revealed that a substantial 79% of these cyberattacks were a result of criminals infiltrating the computer systems of various organizations. Meanwhile, 14% involved the use of malicious software, 6.5% featured cybercriminals overwhelming servers with traffic to overload their infrastructure, and the rest targeted web applications.
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Kenya now ranks as the third most targeted country for cybercriminals in Africa, trailing behind Nigeria and South Africa, calling for the need for heightened cybersecurity measures to safeguard the nation’s critical digital assets.
Kenya has launched a ten-year Information Communication Technology (ICT) Digital Master Plan 2022-32, in order to align with global technological advancements and enhance the rise of Kenya’s digital economy. The digital master plan identifies four key pillars – digital infrastructure, digital services and data management, digital skills, and driving digital innovation for entrepreneurship.
Under the digital infrastructure pillar, the government plans on laying 100,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable, installing twenty-five thousand hotspots in key business centers at public places, developing the government cloud, accelerating the development of the Konza technopolis/smart city development, building out the regional ICT infrastructure, and developing a sustainable power plan to support the infrastructure.
