Local administrators call for tougher measures to curb rising cases of cyber hacking

Nyeri,

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

KNA by Samuel Maina/Wangari Mwangi

Two local administrators are calling for the State to enact stringent measures to curb the rising number of online bullying being reported in the country.

The two, both victims of cybercrime noted that lack of binding laws has remained the weak link in the fight against individuals who prey on unsuspecting Kenyans and end up swindling them of their hard-earned cash.

The duo also called for more sensitization forums among the local populace through the offices of chiefs and their assistants as the latter are in close proximity to the masses.

They were giving their submissions during a public participation forum on proposed Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Critical Information Infrastructure and Cybercrime Management) Draft Regulations 2023.

“We have been having challenges with cybercrimes and we do not know how to channel them. When we go to the Police it's like they are also confused. Last week my facebook account was hacked and used to swindle money from unsuspecting Kenyans. It took some time to stop the process since the hackers kept on breaking into any new account I was opening,” submitted Mary Gitonga who is Nyeri town chief.

She however called upon parents to be part of the war against cyberbullying by restricting their children from visiting unsafe sites where they may eventually end up falling victims to cyber bullies.

She warned that many young people are currently going through psychological torture silently while others have ended up taking their lives after having undergone harrowing experiences under the hands of cyber bullies.

For Hadija Juma who is the Chief for Ruring’u location the war against computer misuse and cybercrime can only be won if grassroots leaders are put at the center of the matrix.

 Ms Juma who almost found herself behind bars after being lured by land cons who ended up swindling money from a member of public from her location said it's only when local leaders are aware about the threats posed by such online fraudsters that they can assist victims who come to them for assistance.

“I have heard many positive things that will lead us to ease cybercrime issues and I am happy that National Government Administration Officers(NGAO))will be part of that team that will be fighting this vice because when something happens in the community the first stop is the chief and assistant chief .So when all is said and done the chief and the assistant chief will be sensitized, ”she told the taskforce on Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes(Critical Information Infrastructure and Cybercrime Management Draft Regulations ,2023 public participation forum.

John Kamande, an online writer narrated the distressing experience they are sometimes forced to go through after working without pay for unscrupulous global online digital marketing firms.

He said he has been forced to live from hand to mouth even after investing much of his time working for online companies only to be shortchanged after the work has been done.

“We want something to be done really to tame rogue online marketers who only misuse us to advance their partisan commercials. As young people who want to earn a living through online work it hurts when you work for long hours and invest your time and energy for such firms only to come out of the deal empty handed,” he said.

However, Phylis Wandeto who works as a caregiver at the Thunguma Children’s Home said the remedy in addressing misuse of online social platforms lies in the hands of individual parents.

Wandeto attributed the current rot in the societal moral fabric to the tendency by parents to delegate their roles to teachers and religious leaders, a decision that ends up handing children a freehand to explore the world through online digital platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, snapchats, and TikTok.

“We cannot address the issue of cybercrime unless we as parents take up our responsibilities to educate our children on the dangers of emerging online social media platforms. Parents need to bring up their children just the way they were brought up. We cannot delegate the responsibility of bringing up children to teachers, priests and pastors and expect them to train them to become responsible adults in future,” she pointed out.

On his part Timothy Were who is the Chair of the taskforce said there is need for new regulations to help secure the country against potential threats from potential cyber-attacks.    

He pointed out that Kenya being one of Africa’s fastest growing economies in terms of e-commerce, needs to put up stringent measures that will also ensure there are legal mechanisms to punish both local and international hackers.  

“The country is much digitized. More and more sectors are being digitized. But we still have active attacks. We have suffered attacks in the past so we must prepare. We must make our systems resilient and we must have laws that punish those who attack or try to hack systems,” he told the press on the sidelines of the forum.

“As to how soon we will have the law in place, this will be determined by Parliament. After the countrywide public participation sessions, we will take the views to Parliament and they will be able to debate and once they pass it, it will be accented to by the President,” he added.

The new Draft Regulations have been developed pursuant to Section 70 of Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (CMA) 2018.

Some of the provisions of the Act relate to Computer systems, enabler to timely and effective detection, prohibition prevention, response, investigating and prosecution of computer cybercrimes.

The act also establishes the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4).

The purpose of the new draft is to among others provide a framework to monitor, detect and deflect cybersecurity threats in the country.

 In addition, it intends to provide a framework for establishment and management of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) and also provision for recovery plans in the event of a disaster, breach or loss of national information infrastructure.

According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, skipping school is one common effect of cyberbullying that can affect the mental health of children who turn to substances like alcohol and drugs or violent behaviours to deal with their psychological and physical pain.

The aftermath of cyberbullying on mental health can vary depending on the medium through which it happens with bullying via text messaging or through pictures or videos on social media platforms being cited as very harmful for youngsters.

Courtesy; KNA