Owalo reiterates no breach of data during last week cyber attack

Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and Digital Economy Eliud Owalo has reiterated that there was no breach of data security in the recent attempted cyber attack.

Owalo said the hackers who were targetting the government and private institutions did not manage to infringe the privacy or interfere with the Kenyan data contained in various digital platforms.

Speaking in Murang’a over the weekend where he commissioned two Jitume Digital Laboratories in Kangema and Mathioya, the CS also said this was a botched attack as it was not successful as the security system on the platform blocked the invasion.

“I want to assure Kenyans that their data captured in the digital platform is very secure and has not been interfered with,” said Owalo.

He said with the government offering majority of its services online, it will put more effort to fight cyber crime in the country adding that such attempts will not affect service delivery to the public.

“We have over 5,000 services being offered online and this is a huge milestone towards embracing technology,” he remarked.

He also said the government has injected huge amounts of money for various digital programmes to enable people especially the youth to explore on opportunities through which they can generate income.

The CS said the ministry has established digital laboratories in various parts of the country to help boost digital literacy and create job opportunities adding that they are targeting to reach out to one million youths.

“We are also reaching out to some of the major global technological companies to see if they can offer job opportunities to our young people,” he added.

Dagoretti South MP John Kiarie is the parliamentary committee on communication, information and technology chairperson said the country has a data protection law that seeks to safeguard all the details in digital platforms.