Kenyan Officials Say Government Sites Hit By Indonesian Hacker

An Indonesian hacker compromised 103 Kenyan government websites

earlier this month with the aim of showing that the sites could be
exploited, officials said this week.

Security experts in Kenya alerted the Computer Incident Response
Team (CIRT) to the attacks after the hacker, known as "Direxer,"
compromised the sites on Jan. 17.

When CIRT was alerted that the government websites were compromised,
Wangusi said that CCK alerted the directorate of e-government, the
entity responsible for government e-infrastructure and services.

"The intended role of any CIRT is to complement whatever
intelligence the government gathers from a cybersecurity point of
view. In countries where it is well-established, they have a very
clear and non-ambiguous mandate," added Kamau. "That is not the case
in Kenya, the CIRT is yet to be felt as a recognized point of
convergence."

Kenya is considered more technologically developed in the Eastern
Africa region, with more affordable bandwidth compared to other
countries, but failure to comprehensively address cybersecurity has
exposed gaps in its policies. Kenya has no cybersecurity law, with
cybercrime dealt with under the Kenya Communications Act of 2007......'


Author: Rebecca Wanjiku
Source: CSO
Date Published: 27th January 2012

How Africa tweets: visualised

Twitter is often thought of as a European and American
phenomenon. But how does Africa use the social networking tool?.....'

To read the complete article see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/graphic/2012/jan/26/how-africa-tweets-portland

Three types of online attack

Cybercrime expert Mikko Hypponen talks us through three types
of online attack on our privacy and data -- and only two are
considered crimes. "Do we blindly trust any future government?
Because any right we give away, we give away for good.".....'

To read the complete article see:
http://www.ted.com/talks/mikko_hypponen_three_types_of_online_attack.html?awesm=on.ted.com_Mikko3&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_source=t.co&utm_content=awesm-publisher

Who Really Stopped SOPA, and Why?

Internet users have revolted in the face of earlier efforts to
regulate their activities, but never on this scale or with this kind
of momentum.  Perhaps that's because PIPA and SOPA presented a
perfect storm.  The draft legislation was terrible, the legislative
process was cynical and undemocratic, and the public relations
efforts of supporters fell flat on every level.

Yet it's already clear that the losers in the PIPA/SOPA fight have
learned nothing from the profound activation of Internet users.
Last week, Rep. Lamar Smith, SOPA's chief sponsor, dismissed the
Wikipedia blackout as a "publicity stunt," while Sen. Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.), PIPA's author, blamed defecting Republicans (defections
were bi-partisan, as was opposition to both bills from the
beginning).  And supporters are already looking for opportunities to
snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  "My hope is that after a
brief delay, we will, together, confront this problem," Leahy said
yesterday......'

To read the complete article see:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2012/01/25/who-really-stopped-sopa-and-why/

UAE central bank foils hackers

Hackers launched a DoS (Denial of Service) attack against the central bank website, in which the hackers bombarded the website
with information, hoping to take it offline, Bob Thomson, chief manager of IT told Reuters.

Telecoms operator Etisalat, the fixed line service provider of the UAE central bank then blocked all access to the website from outside
the UAE, stopping the hackers from bringing down the site......'

To read the complete article see:
http://www.itp.net/587713-uae-central-bank-foils-hackers

Infographic: Online banking and security

The infographic below, courtesy of ZoneAlarm, provides a snapshot of the current landscape of online banking and offers some
general guidelines for improving security......'

To read the complete article see:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/infographic-online-banking-and-security/7285

Analysis of Draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill

The Centre for Law and Democracy has published its analysis of the draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill. The draft Bill was prepared following a wide stakeholder consultation in November 2011, and it represents a harmonised version of earlier government and civil society drafts. It is hoped that the current process will finally bring to fruition the long-standing campaign for right to information legislation in Kenya.....'

To read the complete article see:
http://www.law-democracy.org/?p=1600
http://www.law-democracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Kenya.FOI_.Jan12.pdf
http://www.law-democracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Kenya.FOILawJan12.pdf