ISOC, AUC collabo on Internet security for Africa

ITRealms:

The Internet Society (ISOC) is collaborating with the African Union Commission (AUC) to unveil a new set of Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines (IISG) for Africa, at the ongoing African Internet Summit (AIS) in Nairobi-Kenya, for building a more secure Internet in Africa, reports ITRealms.

The guidelines, the first of its kind, ITRealms gathered would help Africa create a more secure Internet infrastructure and are set to change the way African Union States approach cyber security preparedness.

ITRealms also gathered that the guidelines were developed via a multi-stakeholder group of African and global internet infrastructure security experts, and are the first step towards building a more secure Internet in Africa. They will help AU member states strengthen the security of their local Internet infrastructure through actions at a regional, national, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) cum operator and organizational level.

ITRealms further reports that Africa’s cyber security environment faces a unique combination of challenges, including a lack of awareness of the risks involved in using technology.

In addition, ITRealms gathered that Kenya was ranked the 69th most vulnerable country out of 127 in the 2015 Deloitte Global Threat Index. Some of the main reasons were the low awareness, underinvestment, talent shortage and overload of data, even as Deloitte further estimates that Kenya lost $171 million to cybercrime in 2016.

For the Director, Africa Regional Bureau at the Internet Society, Dr. Dawit Bekele, Africa has achieved major strides in developing its Internet Infrastructure in the past decade, but, the Internet would not provide the aspired benefits unless Africans can trust it.

“We have seen from recent experiences that Africa is not immune from cyber-attacks and other security threats. These guidelines, developed in collaboration with the African Union Commission, will help African countries put in place the necessary measures to increase the security of their Internet infrastructure,” he said.

Reacting, Head, Information Society Division, African Union, Mr. Moctar Yeday, said that this is another timely milestone achievement given the new security challenges in cyberspace.

“The Commission of the African Union will continue its partnership with the Internet Society on a second set of guidelines addressing personal data protection in Africa,” Yeday said.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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