Experts task government to pay attention to cyber security threats

Cyber security experts have called on government at all levels to pay attention to cyber security threats as it affects businesses and economic growth as well as human lives.

The call was made recently at the 2017 KPMG Africa Cyber Security Conference in Lagos, themed ‘Security and Resilience in a Digital World’ with the presence of cyber security experts from different countries like Ghana, China, South Africa, India, Kenya, Israel and Nigeria. They said cybercrime is now on the rise and posing a different kind of threats to businesses and the society in general as people are becoming more dependent on technology and digital interconnectivity to carry out their day to day activities.

The Global Cyber Security Lead, High Growth Markets for KPMG, Atul Gupta said in order to combat the menace , there is need for Government and board level support as well as implementation of the right policies and infrastructure to prevent it.

“As part of efforts to combat this growing problem, there is an urgent need for government and board level support for the development and implementation of the right framework for preventing and combating cyber risks,” he said

Also speaking was the ICT Secretary, Ministry of Information Communication and Technology, Kenya, Dr. Kate Getao who while delivering keynote address buttressed that with African governments already being faced witty task of overseeing key social interactions and financial transactions which are most of the time digital , there’s need for them to increasingly like never before study and research on ICT to be able to build adequate capacity in cyber security and be well equipped to oversee the ever evolving digital scene.

“African governments are already faced with the task of governing key social interactions, personal identifiable information (PII) and financial transactions which are mostly digital,” Dr. Kate said.