Cyber insecurity could harm economy — experts

By John Agaba

EXPERTS in cyber security have sounded a fresh warning regarding the use of new technology, saying it has the potential to bring down Uganda’s economy (than to reinvigorate it) if the government is not stringent with its use and companies start to invest in high-tech solutions to counter cyber-crimes.

Attending the 3rd Cyber Security Conference in Kampala on Wednesday, the experts described the rate at which technology use in Uganda was growing as exponential — and so is the threat of cyber-crime, they said.

Michael Kiberu, the director of IT business solutions company, KIPYA Connect, based in Germany, said: “the world is looking at Africa, and Uganda, as the next big ‘thing’ in technology investment. All the big (technology) companies, Vodafone, Ericsson, project the region to have the highest (IT) penetration growth rate by 2017.”

“But one of the biggest threats to banks and top companies the world over is technology and cyber insecurity. You don’t want to be a bank and not employ the best IT brains at your company — because it takes just a minute for a hacker to enter your (security) system and you collapse,” Kiberu said. 

“We need to be ready for these new technologies. The government needs to be stringent with the law (cyber laws). And companies need to build capacity of their IT staff, and employ the best brains and practices — because if the train of technology comes (to Uganda) and we are not ready, it will just blow us aside,” Kiberu said.

Uganda is not new to crimes related to cyber insecurity, where thieves using technology have breached security codes of particular financial institutions, with intention to defraud them.

In 2012, four Bulgarians, accused of forging automated teller machines (ATM) cards, were convicted in Uganda. The convicts were believed to have forged 36 ATM cards and pin numbers with intent to defraud Stanbic Bank.

The Annual Crime and Road Safety Report, 2013,  indicates that a total of 36 cyber-crime cases were reported that year compared to 62 cases in 2012, resulting into a loss of about 18.1 billion shillings.

The crimes included electronic frauds, phishing, email hacking, pornography/defamation, offensive communication, mobile money and ATM/VISA frauds among others, the report says.

On Tuesday, Justice Paul Mugamba, the head of the Anti- Corruption Court, sentenced three former employees of telecom company MTN to 9 years each in prison for stealing sh3.1b – in a case related to cyber-crime.

Yesterday, Kiberu said: “financial institutions and companies have to be very vigilant regarding these new crimes.”

Stella Alibateese, the director regulation and legal services at the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U), said: “there is a lot of electronic fraud. Thieves are using mobile money as a conduit. And if you send money by Western Union it is very difficult to trace the receiver.”

“People just have to do the due-diligence, and crosscheck every detail, before doing any transactions,” she said.

Dr. Nathan Muweeza from Uganda Christian University described email and the use of seductive messages to defraud victims as the commonest form of cyber-crimes committed in Uganda.