E-security; an emerging concern for Africa's digital revolution
By Mercy Wambui, 08 February, 2006

“As African governments begin to implement e-government and e-commerce initiatives, the new terrain will be a haven for malicious hackers, who want bragging rights for bringing these sites down,” cautioned Michael Bitz, a consultant who facilitated discussions among ECA staff at a workshop on the Economics of E-security, held from 6-8 February 2006.

One of the aims of the workshop was to mainstream e-security issues in the ECA-led national e-strategy policies and plans (NICIs) that are in place in more than 32 African countries. “We need to agree on the security challenges that African governments need to be aware off. It''s my belief that e-security measures for e-government initiatives has to be our priority", said Aida Opoku-Mensah, Officer-in-Charge, Development Information Services (DISD).

"There are many gaps and lack of awareness", noted Mohammed Timoulali, a Regional ICT Advisor, and added, “Apart from the Kenyan e-government Action Plan, which addresses e-security issues in detail, most African countries are still at the exploratory stages.”

“In the West, the banking sector takes cyber crime seriously, because customers have options and can always take their money somewhere else”, said Bitz, adding that cyber criminals can do a lot of damage by hacking into systems, denying services or accessing and tampering with government or citizen data.

Countries that are already implementing their national e-strategy plans will need to continually revise their policies in light of more awareness of security standards needed to protect data and websites, participants agreed, and noted that Africa can learn and prepare itself, having learnt from the experiences of emerging markets and developing countries that have embraced ICTs across sectors, such as India.

The meeting recognized the controversial nature of the term "security", particularly in the post 9/11 era, where attempts have been made, through enacting legislation or state-controlled protection mechanisms to undermine personal rights and liberties to protect national interests. On the other hand, cyber criminals have become bolder and more desperate to cash in on the gains of new technologies to facilitate horrific crimes, such as child molestation and illegal sex trade from developing countries to Europe and North America. “Africa’s weak ICT infrastructure maybe a curse and a blessing as it protects users from these massive cyber crimes," said Bitz.

Librarian, Abraham Azubuike, noted that although cyber crime is a threat that preys on good ICT infrastructure, the African business community is demanding better and faster connectivity to facilitate smoother business operations and in countries such as Nigeria, “personal security through electronic transfers is on high demand, as it is too risky to carry wads of cash around".

Participants underscored the need for adequate legislation to handle disputes arising from online transactions and to prosecute crimes committed through cyberspace. It was also agreed that strengthening ICT skills is critical for handling and securing complex data from prying hands, an issue that developed countries are grappling with.

“Cyber crime’s economic impact is quantifiable in terms of diminished consumer confidence, loss of productivity, loss of trade secrets and refused access to certain markets if your systems are compromised and attacked,” said Bitz, “But the west, despite studies that show the number of attacks and warnings against high-tech crime, has made very little headway,” he noted, and added that ECA would need to advise African countries on “parallel tracks to deal with this issue, including strengthening law enforcement to police online fraud.”