A Safaricom shop in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG Safaricom is betting on a range of security platforms to help businesses and individuals guard against hacking of confidential data and theft of billions of shillings through breaches on banking systems.
The telco’s Managed Security Services allow individuals and businesses to secure their emails, websites, manage vulnerabilities, test and audit IT systems and access real-time monitoring, among others.
Safaricom is also offering businesses advisory services on cybersecurity through the platform amid a surge in cybercrime that costs businesses billions of shillings in addition to the exposure of confidential customer data and personal information.
The telco says demand for the product launched last year has been growing as businesses seek to guard against the ever-evolving cybersecurity threats.
"We are excited to see that the solution is gathering interest with some of our customers in the financial services and transport industries already signing up for the service," said Safaricom.
K-Unity Sacco, a local savings and credit services micro-lender with membership in five counties is one of the beneficiaries of the security platform after it lost an undisclosed amount of customer funds after hackers breached its banking system.
The sacco with over 100,000 members in Kiambu, Nairobi, Nakuru, Narok and Nyandarua counties said the security system has controls that deter intrusion of the banking system and ways of managing the threats.
"The system is more focused on users. The reporting is also better than the bulk alerts we previously received…The IT department has also benefited from understanding security threats, how to handle and respond to them and remedial activities," said Francis Muoria, ICT head at the sacco.
The Communications Authority of Kenya data shows that 34.64 million cyber threats were detected in the three months to March, a rise of 231.5 per cent from 11.2 million threats in a similar period last year.
