Companies

Slovakian firm cashes in on Kenya cyber attacks

cyber

A simple but successful cyber-attack or data breach can be devastating. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Increased cyber-attacks in public and private sector businesses across Kenya have won Slovakia firm, Eset East Africa, contracts to secure information systems for 750 clients in about one year.

Eset country manager Teddy Njoroge said among the high-profile clients the firm has signed up include Kenyatta University, Britam, Nakumatt, Kenya Methodist University and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

“In our survey conducted in the past year across various businesses, 52 per cent of data and information security breaches were caused by human error (committed by company staff) that could have been avoided if staff had undertaken cyber-security training,” he said.

Mr Njoroge said e-commerce is the future of business and presents an affordable growth avenue that small firms cannot ignore.

“Even the government now has its e-citizen portal offering a variety of services to the people for acquisition of various licences and approvals. This demands that small businesses must adapt or risk being left out,” he said.

READ: Kenyan firms hit by ransomware cyber attack, to get worse - VIDEO

Eset trains firms on web and email protection, how to spot phishing emails, password best practices, social engineering, two-factor authentication and Internet of Things (IoT) security.

These are the basics for safeguarding company data and operations against cyber-attacks.

“A simple but successful cyber-attack or data breach, can be devastating with impacts such as litigation, increased insurance premiums, among other reputational issues. All these can directly affect the company’s bottomline and for this reason, training employees on cyber security best practices is a must,” says Mr Njoroge.