The number of cyber-attacks targeting digitised government services has hit 1.7 billion threats and continues to rise, the Ministry of ICT and Digital Economy now says.
Despite the attacks, the government has increased the number of digital services to over 17,000 with a promise to double the number in the coming years.
This emerged during the ongoing Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) conference on governance, risk and compliance.
According to Yunis Omar, the director of cyber security in the ministry, the government is committed to digitising all its services despite emerging challenges.
He said the government had already rolled out over 80,000 kilometres kms of the 100,000kms of the fiber-optic cable as part of the digitisation plans.
Plans are underway to train over 20 million Kenyans on digital literacy, noting that this would come in handy when the whole country was connected to the internet.
To achieve this, he said the government had identified 25,000 digital hotspots and construction of 1,450 digital hubs by 2027.
“We are working with partners in achieving this and also addressing the issue of data security in the wake of increased cases of cyber threats,” he said.
ISACA president Mercy Omollo identified technology and the ongoing war in the Middle East as some of the challenges facing the sector.
This has been worsened by political instability in some countries adding that stakeholders had roles to play in mitigating the disruptors.
“These disruptors have seen levels of regulations rise and we are urging our members to think of innovation in this era of digital transformation,” she said.
The association’s chair Preston Odero noted that they have increased their certifications from one to nine as issues around cyber security continue to rise.
“As cases of cyber-threats
continue to rise, there a need to
address data protection which we
are doing as our membership rises to
over 1,800 members,” he said.