A day after an Indonesian hacker defaced 103 government of Kenya websites, it has emerged that an agent in one of the embassies in Kenya tried to gain information from Internet Service Providers nine years ago.
In yet another show of the multiple security threats facing the county's Internet infrastructure, Brian Munyao Longwe, then the Chief Technology Officer at Telecommunications Providers Organisation of Kenya (TESPOK) has revealed that he was approached by an individual who identified himself as from one of the larger countries of the former USSR.
Longwe explains that TESPOK had just then completed establishing the Kenya Internet Exchange point (KIXP). Internet Service Providers and institutions that are accessed frequently on the Internet such as the Kenya Revenue Authority connect to the KIXP and exchange traffic meant for each other, a process known as peering. This eliminates costs and time when local traffic travels to longer over seas distances to the point where networks from different ISPs meet again. 25 ISPs are currently peering the KIXP.
The agent is said to have met Longwe at Mercury Lounge at ABC place , along Waiyaki Way in Nairobi, after he had approached the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) who then referred him to Longwe. The agent then explained that his country had offered technical assistance to other Internet exchange points and wanted to offer the same to Kenya and he wanted to "find out how ISPs connect to the Internet exchange point." This would then assist the agent in "facilitating information exchange".
Longwe explains that he was suspicious about the nature of the request as the KIXP is a sensitive installation, handling information including that from the Department of Defense. At the time, the Department of Defense was in the midst of investigating email traffic between ISPs after the terrorist attack of Paradise Hotel in Kilifi in 2002 and the attempted downing of an Israeli airline in Mombasa. The agent was referred back to the government, though he appeared disappointed at the turn of events and hinted that there would be some form of "compensation" for Longwe if he assisted him get his proposal through.
Longwe still turned down the request.
Longwe later went on to be named "African ICT business man of the year" in 2007 in addition holding various positions at continental service providers association including African Top Level Domains Organization (AfTLD) and African Internet Service Providers Association. He is currently the group CTO at Mobi Cash.