State urges collaboration in cybercrime fight

The Communications Authority of Kenya(CA) has urged for deeper collaboration to fight the rising threats of cybercrime.CA Director General David Mugonyi said new policies to deal with the emerging cybercrime threats will be formulated through collaboration with key stakeholders including platform providers, civil society, and regulators.“We must be aware of the potential for people using information manipulation and disinformation through media platforms to cause chaos, spread harmful content and adult content to children,” he said in a speech at a stakeholder forum in Mombasa.“Dialogue and frequent conversations within the industry and regulators become inevitable given the rapid changes happening and the need to deal with emerging issues in the media and communication sector,” he added.Also Read: Revealed: Cyber criminals made 114 attempts to attack state infrastructure in just eight monthsRising proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled cyberattacks, has been flagged as a major threat to public and private institutions in Kenya. An AI-powered cyberattack leverages algorithms to carry out malicious activities. This kind of attack uses AI to enhance the capabilities of traditional cyberattacks, making them more sophisticated, directed, and challenging to detect.Statistics from the National Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) indicate that cyber threats increased by 27.83 percent between October to December 2024 (840,921,998 cyber threat events), as compared to the July to September period of the same year (657,843,715 threat events).These threats include malware, brute force, web applications, system vulnerabilities, mobile applications, and distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS).While DDoS mostly targeted state websites such as the e-citizen portal, mobile phone users have increasingly been targeted with web applications, brute force, and mobile application attacks. Organisations mostly encounter malware, web applications, and system vulnerability attacks.Also Read: Firms need to keep pace with cyber threatsBrute force attacks occur when hackers crack passwords and other login credentials, often targeting mobile banking apps.“It is better for you to share very little on social media because if you put all your information out there it is easy for the cybercriminal to profile you,” Francis Sitati, the Senior Officer in charge of Cyber Security Information, Advocacy and Partnerships at CA advised. vobara@ke.nationmedia.com