Kebs Approves 40 New Information and Cyber Security Standards

Kenya’s Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has approved 40 new standards to improve information and cyber security while protecting consumer privacy. The new guidelines provide tactics and approaches that persons or administrators in charge of institutional data security can employ to protect it. In the field of information technology, this includes auditors, managers, management teams, trainers, and assessors.

“Consumers are increasingly adopting digital technology, the data generated creates both an opportunity for enterprises to improve customer engagement and a responsibility to keep it safe,” Kebs managing director Bernard Njiraini said.

The new principles, he claimed, will aid in maintaining data’s confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity (CIA) from creation to usage, storage, and transfer. Throughout the procedures, the system will provide powerful security to help combat cyber threats, data privacy breaches, and provide information security measures.

Read: October Cyber Security Awareness Month: Communications Authority Kicks Off Awareness Initiative

The standards also address privacy of informational technology systems used in the processing and storage of personally identifiable data.

Kenya reported more than 56 occurrences of cyber threats in the year ending December 2020, according to data from the Communications Authority. Technology threats, along with weapons of mass destruction, are ranked among the top five societal and economic hazards in the World Economic Forum Report.

Financial services, after the public sector, are the most common targets for cyber-attacks. In the event of a cyber assault, 40% of SMEs throughout the world will likely lock their doors.

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