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Natasha Chamba, Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT is in the process of finalising a new cybercrime bill to criminalise cyber-attacks and identity theft, which are becoming a threat to businesses, a senior official has said.
According to the 2015 National Risk Assessment (NRA) report, cybercrime is one of the key contributors to the estimated US$1,8 billion losses attributed to illicit proceeds annually in Zimbabwe.
With the adoption of information communication technologies (ICTs), there has been concern over rising cases of bank card cloning, tampering with business websites and cyber-bullying, among others.
Speaking at a cyber security workshop in Bulawayo last week, ICT and Courier Services Ministry permanent secretary, Dr Sam Kundishora, said there was an urgent need to protect benefits of electronic (e) commerce from cyber criminals.
“Cybercrime is real and is on the rise in our nation. So, Government is taking strides to combat it. The systems in our country that made it easy for people to conduct e-commerce are now being exploited by cyber criminals and the ministry is working on dealing with these criminals,” he said.
“The Bill will be going to the Attorney General hopefully by the 24th of December, awaiting approval.”
A senior detective in the fraud section of the CID who attended the meeting, Alford Nyasha, said this year alone there have more than 60 cybercrimes, mainly identity theft, with 20 of them being linked to bank card cloning.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person’s identity or personal information such as their name, driver’s licence or their social security number, without their permission to commit a crime or fraud. He said those using social media and mobile banking were the main victims of identity theft.
“Cybercrime normally occurs in the banking sector where pins are stolen and cards cloned and on online social relations. Cybercrime also manifests in real estate when title deeds are computer generated with a view to duping innocent buyers of property or scanned documents with fake signatures,” he said.
Nyasha also said there was a new wave of cybercrime in which cyber criminals insert cameras on ATMs and steal people’s information. They then insert micro-chips on the ATM and lift people’s information.
Zimbabwe is one of the first countries to have a ministry that deals with cyber security in Africa, said Dr Kundishora.
— @queentauruszw
derick.khumalo