NAIROBI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will partner with industry to develop cyber insurance policies as a means to safeguard the country's digital infrastructure from growing threats, an official has said.
Robust insurance package to cater for victims of cyber-crimes is in line with the government's commitment to grow the digital economy, Kiprono Ronoh, acting director of ICT Authority, said at the close of an annual conference for information and communication technology (ICT) players in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, late Saturday.
Threats to cyberspace across key economic sectors are escalating, undermining innovation and Kenya's quest to become a knowledge-based economy hub, he said.
"Even as we expand and intensify our coordinated law enforcement efforts on data security, our analysis of past incidents shows that the threat actors are becoming more malicious and their attacks more severe," Ronoh said in a statement.
In addition to taking up cyber insurance policies, Ronoh said, companies and state agencies are expected to conduct deep assessment on threats, sign compliance agreements in a bid to raise their safety profile.
Wycliffe Mabwa, vice-director of Assurance and Managed Services at Huawei Kenya, said that a thorough assessment and understanding of components and materials used by major suppliers is critical to warding off potential attacks.
He proposed controlled access to hardware and software, strengthening accountability along the supply chains, alongside security risk management, as part of efforts to avert cyber attacks. ■