Information Security for Africa (ISfA)

Information security 'recession-proof'

2012-02-14T06:12:00.001-08:00

According to a survey by (ISC)², the information security profession offers not only stability but upward mobility as nearly 70 per cent of employees in the sector reported a salary increase and 55 per cent expected to receive an increase in 2012. The (ISC)² 2012 Career Impact Survey was conducted from December 2011 to January 2012 among 2,256 respondents. In terms of hiring, 72 per cent said

Citi Hit in Brazilian Hacker Attack

2012-02-05T02:52:00.001-08:00

A computer hacker group on Friday continued a wave of attacks against Brazilian financial websites, hampering the sites of Citigroup Inc. and other prominent institutions......' To read the complete article see: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203889904577200964142208498.html

Fwd: [DNB] Mythbusters Banned From Discussing RFID By Visa And Mastercard

2012-02-03T14:37:00.001-08:00

Adam Savage of Mythbusters tells how Visa, Mastercard, and Discover had the Discovery Channel put the kibosh on an episode that would have revealed just how "trackable and hackable" the RFID chips found in many credit cards are. It's a telling example of how corporate advertisers serve as the gatekeepers of mainstream media/entertainment:.....' To read the complete article see: http://

Hackers outwit online banking identity security systems

2012-02-03T14:35:00.001-08:00

Criminal hackers have found a way round the latest generation of online banking security devices given out by banks, the BBC has learned......' To read the complete article see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16812064

Kenyan Officials Say Government Sites Hit By Indonesian Hacker

2012-01-29T08:37:00.001-08:00

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

How Africa tweets: visualised

2012-01-26T10:29:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-26T09:57:00.001-08:00

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=&

Who Really Stopped SOPA, and Why?

2012-01-25T10:39:00.001-08:00

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

UAE central bank foils hackers

2012-01-23T04:10:00.001-08:00

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

Infographic: Online banking and security

2012-01-19T13:49:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-19T13:22:00.001-08:00

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

Millions stolen in Postbank hacking

2012-01-15T15:38:00.001-08:00

.The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has launched a high-level probe after a cybercrime syndicate stole R42m from SA Post Office financial institution Postbank over the New Year holidays, the Sunday Times reported. The theft occurred between January 1 and January 3, and was allegedly committed by a syndicate with knowledge of the post office's information technology (IT) system. Department

Google 'improperly' accessed Kenyan rival Mocality's database

2012-01-15T13:44:00.001-08:00

Google has confessed that a number of people working for it "improperly" accessed the customer database of a rival company in Kenya to boost its own business. The US search giant said it was "mortified" to learn that staff illicitly entered the business directory of a Kenyan listings firm, called Mocality, in an attempt to sell a competing product to the rival's customers......' To read the

Websites strike against censorship

2012-01-14T15:05:00.001-08:00

On Jan. 18th there is going to be an all-out strike on the internet. Websites across the internet are going dark in protest of the internet censorship bills in Congress, SOPA and PIPA......' To read the complete article see: http://sopastrike.com/

Information Security and Data Protection in 2012

2012-01-09T12:23:00.001-08:00

This is our first Data Privacy and Information Security Predictions report. We asked leading Data Privacy and Information Security professionals what they thought the New Year will hold in terms of the threats that are on the 2012 landscape. The predictions that are included in this report offer a wide range of threats and concerns that need to be considered by every business or organization

Have RIM, Nokia & Apple provided Indian Military with backdoor access to cellular comm?

2012-01-07T15:02:00.001-08:00

As of now we start sharing with all our brothers and followers information from the Indian Militaty (sic) Intelligence servers, so far we have discovered within the Indian Spy Programme (sic) source codes of a dozen software companies which have signed agreements with Indian TANCS programme (sic) and CBI.....' To read the complete article see: http://m.zdnet.com/blog/india/

Hackers in India Leak Symantec Source Code

2012-01-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

Last night Impervia sent along an email stating that hacker group Lords of Dharmaraja is threatening to release the source code of Symantec's flagship product, Norton Antivirus. The group's original threat posted on Pastebin is now gone, but a Google cached version claims that the source code was retrieved during a hack of India's military and intelligence servers. .....' To read the complete

Dammit Ramnit! Worm slurps 45,000 Facebook passwords

2012-01-06T07:33:00.001-08:00

A bank account-raiding worm has started spreading on Facebook, stealing login credentials as it creeps across the site, security researchers have revealed. Ramnit differs from other worms, such as Koobface, that have used Facebook to spread because it relies on multiple infection techniques and has only recently extended onto social networks. Koobface, by contrast, only uses Facebook or Twitter

ISOC Argentina Chapter releases excellent ebook: “IPv6 for All”

2012-01-04T23:33:00.001-08:00

The Argentina Chapter of the Internet Society, in conjunction with the 6DEPLOY Project, recently released an excellent book in PDF form called IPv6 For All: A Guide for IPv6 Usage and Application in Different Environments. Covers how to get started with IPv6 for: End Users Residential Networks and Home Offices Basic Internet services Enterprise Networks Academic and

1 Million Webpages Infected by Lilupophilupop SQL Injection Attack

2012-01-04T23:29:00.001-08:00

About a month ago, researchers from the Internet Storm Center (ISC) noticed an ongoing SQL attack and dubbed it lilupophilupop because it redirected users to a domain with that name, but since at the time there were only 80 or so infected webpages, no one gave the incident much thought. Now, the number of victims increased to 1 million pages......' To read the complete article see: http://

Defending Against Denial of Service Attacks

2012-01-04T23:24:00.001-08:00

There are two parts to this guide. The first part outlines preparatory steps that can be taken by Civil Society organizations to improve their website's resilience, should it come under attack. However, we do understand that most Civil Society organizations' first introduction to DoS attacks comes when they suddenly find themselves the victim of an attack. The second part of this guide provides

Fwd: [DNB] Global Civil Society Under Attack

2012-01-04T23:21:00.001-08:00

.Access has identified some of the most significant threats currently faced by civil society, which include: Communications Blackout: In 2011, the government of Egypt disconnected the country from the internet for five days. Iran announced a plan to disconnect the country from the worldwide internet and replacing it with a nationally controlled "Halal Internet." In San Francisco, transportation

12 predictions for Africa Tech Scene in 2012

2012-01-02T13:16:00.001-08:00

In the spirit of the new year and holidays, I compiled 12 predictions for 2012 based on my experience and trends I am seeing as a Silicon Valley professional, observer and participant within the East African tech startup scene, many inspired from stories we covered here over 2011. Here's to a great year in Africa Tech. I hope to continue covering this exciting area next year and beyond......' To

Siemens working to fix security flaws

2011-12-24T12:02:00.001-08:00

Siemens said it is working to fix security flaws in industrial controls products that the US government warned could make public utilities, hospitals and other critical parts of the country's infrastructure vulnerable to attack by hackers. .....' To read the complete article see: http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=53066

ENISA Wants ISPs to Play Greater Role in Security

2011-12-24T11:50:00.001-08:00

The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has claimed that the continent's ISPs should play a greater role in cyber security. In its 'Economics of Security: Facing the Challenges' report, ENISA asked European Union nations to encourage ISPs to clean virus infected computers on their networks. It asked the nations to provide the ISPs with incentives for doing so. To read

Guidance on the rules on use of cookies and similar technologies

2011-12-21T17:22:00.001-08:00

This guidance will explain how the rules apply for those operating websites and using cookies. The guidance uses the term 'cookies' to refer to cookies and similar technologies covered by the Regulations......' To read the complete article see: http://www.ico.gov.uk/news/latest_news/2011/~/media/documents/library/Privacy_and_electronic/Practical_application/

Rising cybercrime pushes African governments to take action

2011-12-19T12:55:00.001-08:00

In reaction to rising cybercrime incidents in both public and private sectors, some African governments have set up incident reporting and early warning bodies with the support of AfriNIC (Africa Network Information Center). South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Ivory Coast and Tunisia have set up Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) that will work with information security professionals to report

Kenyan Government Shifts Focus From Connectivity to Cyber Security

2011-12-16T03:33:00.001-08:00

Three years ago Internet connectivity was a major concern in Kenya, until the undersea optical fiber cable linking the country to the world was installed. This connectivity has enabled business to collaborate with overseas partners among other benefits, though the super highway has brought yet another problem - Cyber security. T To read the complete article see: http://www.csoonline.com/article/

European Union to outline Internet freedom strategy

2011-12-14T04:29:00.001-08:00

The European Union will outline a strategy on Monday to support activists living under repressive governments who are using technology to organise, mobilise and exercise their rights, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes said on Friday......' To read the complete article see: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/09/us-eu-internet-idUSTRE7B81HL20111209

Merchant Data Security Report

2011-12-13T03:20:00.001-08:00

A study published today by merchant data security leader SecurityMetrics shows 71 percent of merchants who entered the study were found to store unencrypted payment card data in 2011, which is an increase of 8 percent since 2010. Merchants who store unencrypted payment card data directly violate Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements and may be subject to fines and

Forensic security analysis of Google Wallet

2011-12-13T03:15:00.001-08:00

As the first real payment system leveraging NFC on Android, Google Wallet is a very intriguing new consumer app for smartphones. But as we always ask: is Google Wallet secure? This analysis provides a high-level review of the data transmitted and stored by Google Wallet, with the goal of determining if any sensitive data is at risk. Security vulnerabilities in Google Wallet, if they exist, could

Fully Undetectable Backdoor generator for Metasploit

2011-12-12T23:32:00.001-08:00

Security Labs Experts from Indian launch an automated Anti-Virus and Firewall Bypass Script. Its an Modified and Stable Version in order to work with Backtrack 5 distro. Below you can find the modified version and a simple presentation on how it works:.....' To read the complete article see: http://thehackernews.com/2011/12/fully-undetectable-backdoor-generator.html

Enisa warns CERTs are failing on data sharing and proactive threat detection

2011-12-12T23:27:00.001-08:00

'European member states' CERTs are still not proactively detecting and preventing enough threats and they must improve cross-border data sharing and co-operation to be more effective in future, according to the latest report from the EU's security agency Enisa. The Proactive detection of network security incidents report highlighted several shortcomings of most CERTs in the region which it

Hackers bust into RIM’s PlayBook

2011-12-01T01:00:00.001-08:00

Author: Iain Marlow Excerpt: '....A trio of computer hackers has “jail-broken” Research In Motion Ltd. RIM-T PlayBook tablet computer, gaining root access to operating system files and raising questions about security as it pitches the PlayBook to corporate and government clients. The Waterloo, Ont.-based company said it is investigating the issue, but stressed that it wouldn’t affect any of

Kenya: Web Sites Open Cash Window for Savvy CV-Writer

2011-10-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Chege Muigai 24 October 2011 James Waititu had never used a computer before joining Kenyatta University in 2003. When he finally did, he fell in love with the machines although he had been admitted for a degree course in biotechnology. By the time he was graduating in 2007, he was already an entrepreneur -- not in biotechnology but working with computers. His business idea came

Kenya: Use Electronic Voting, Urges U.S. Envoy

2011-10-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

Philemon Suter 25 October 2011 The 2012 General Election should be conducted electronically if the voting is to be free, fair and transparent, US Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration has said. The envoy faulted manual voting that the country has been using, stating that it was prone to malpractices and suggested that it be discarded. On Tuesday, Mr Gration advocated for the

111 Arrested In Identity Theft Probe

2011-10-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest identity theft and credit card fraud cases in history has generated millions of dollars in losses to date, prosecutors said. By Mathew J. Schwartz October 10, 2011 12:40 PM Authorities on Friday announced the arrest of 111 people in what they're calling the biggest identity theft bust in U.S. history. "This is by far the largest--and certainly among the most

How 'Mobile Money' Will Boost Nigerian Economy

2011-10-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen 3 October 2011 Lagos — The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in order to achieve its cashless policy for the country, recently licensed some operators to deliver the mobile money services in Nigeria. In this interview with Mr Tayo Oviosu, the Chief Executive Officer of Pagatech, a mobile payment service provider, he explained how the adoption

Mourning a Tech Legend - Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

Florence Mugarula 6 October 2011 Innovations and technology stakeholders in the country yesterday joined the world to express their deep grief on the death of the apple's-founder and former Chief Executive Officer Mr Steve Jobs, saying the world has lost a great and respected innovator. Mr Jobs was born on February 24, 1955. He was an American computer entrepreneur and inventor. He died

FG approves ₦30.66billion for unified identity Management System

2011-09-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Federal government of Nigeria has approved ₦30.066Billion for the implementation of a unified identity Management System (NIMS). The unified identity Management System (NIMS) for Nigeria was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for implementation between now and 2013, during its weekly meeting which was chaired by President

Nigeria: FG Approves N30 Billion for National Identity Card

2011-09-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Tony Aielemen 29 September 2011 Federal government yesterday approved N30.066 billion a unified identity Management System (NIMS). The system was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for implementation between now and 2013. Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku said this while briefing state House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council

The Internet in East Africa - an Aid Or a Weapon?

2011-09-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

Frank Nyakairu has seen it all. A veteran war reporter, he has covered the horrors of northern Uganda and Somalia, among others places. And throughout this time of rich but often appalling experiences, he has also seen the auspicious--and sometimes terrifying--impact the Internet has had on East African reporters. Nyakairu spoke at a recent workshop held in Johannesburg, South Africa,

The Battle for DotAfrica - Who Will Get the Crown Jewels?

2011-09-20T04:30:00.000-07:00

Early in June in Singapore, the International Centre for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN) board of directors announced that they will allow more gTLD (generic Top Level Domains). Currently, there are only 22 registered gTLDs like .com and .org. The President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN, Mr Rod Beckstrom, had this to say about this radical change to the internet domain system: "ICANN

Africa: Achieving a High-Speed Africa - Closing the Gap Between the Potential Promise and Current Reality

2011-09-20T03:58:00.000-07:00