Latest reports indicate that no single organization either public or private can guarantee safety of information in their organization data base. Standards that have been applied worldwide remain entirely absent in Kenya, with not one Kenyan organization certified as information-secure. Web sites are being hacked, mailing lists and customer information is being traded for profit by a growing set of “information criminals” and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warns that if we don’t sort out our information security breaches from staff and through our largely unprotected computer systems, it will result in a low growth track which will be a long term.
According to Alpex Consulting Africa Ltd, an IT firm that plans to roll out international standards seminars, training and implementation guides in an effort to create urgent awareness of the need for secure information, security breaches are hurting companies, citizens and government. The Central Bank of Kenya reports that 3 per cent of bank transactions are now frauds, six times more than five years ago.

“In other countries, organizations are not allowed to store information until they have been certified as secure, applying 133 checks and procedures to make sure the information is secure” said Harry Mathenge, Director Alpex Consulting Africa Ltd.

He said in Kenya, no national organization is encrypting its sensitive information; no Internet service provider has been certified as offering security to the millions of emails held on their servers, no insurance company, no national bank and no Government Department or Ministry has certified information security. He challenged any organization to come forward and guarantee information of the clients to prove their data bases are secure.