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Prince Sunduzani, Business Reporter
ECONET subsidiary Liquid Telcom has partnered Kenyan IT firm, Serianu, to combat cybercrime on the continent and ensure protection of clients.
Cyber security has over the years become a serious concern among countries and businesses as the globe forges ahead with industrialisation that has inevitably seen a rise in use of the cyberspace to conduct business.
Of late governments and private companies are battling cybercrime as the internet is prone to manipulation by cyber criminals.
Liquid Telcom chief technology information officer Mr Ben Roberts said cybercrime presents a great danger to internet users.
He said his firm was working towards ensuring a safe operating environment for its customers. The company’s operations stretch across Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa, including Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Liquid Telecom will make use of Serianu’s consulting infrastructure to expand the scope of its services.
“While digital transformation presents a vast opportunity for businesses today in Africa, the risk of cybercrime has never been greater. Through this partnership with Serianu, Liquid Telecom is not only ensuring that customers using our network and data centres facilities have access to the very latest cyber-security solutions, but that we are also raising the overall level of cyber-security standards and practices across the region,” he said.
Serianu, established the continent’s first ever Cyber Immersion Centre earlier this year where the firm offers testing facilities for technology firms to evaluate their cyber-security mechanisms. The innovative centre also provides training and educational facilities for new firms looking to develop a cyber-security framework.
The company’s chief executive officer, Mr William Makatiani, concurred adding that the partnership would provide home-grown solutions to cyber security on the continent.
“Supporting local businesses and initiatives is one of the key pillars that both Serianu and Liquid Telecom share in common. Through this partnership, we will explore new ways to empower existing and future customers with quality, home-grown cyber-security solutions that will help reduce the risk and cost from cybercrime across the region,” he said.
Government last year set up a cyber-security threat detection and mitigation arm, which now falls under the Ministry of ICT, to defend the nation from cyber threats posed by the abuse of social media.
In the same year, the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) were hacked with the hackers demanding a ransom of 1 000 Bitcoins to restore information to their websites.
The global cost of cybercrime is expected to annually reach $2 trillion by next year and $6 trillion by 2021, this according to Cybersecurity Ventures. — @PrinceNksoy102
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