Strathmore University has signed a Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Technology Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK) in an event held at Strathmore university grounds and attended by top officials from both institutions Dr. Joseph Sevilla, the director at @iLabAfrica and Ms. Fiona Asonga- Chief Executive Officer(CEO) at TESPOK.
Under the partnership, TESPOK and @iLabAfrica – Strathmore University Research and Innovation Centre seek to collaborate on analyzing cyber security data into easily consumable information by different security players, institutions and the public.
Speaking during the launch, TESPOK CEO Ms Asonga acknowledged her organizations rich experience in the running of industry computer response incidence teams since 2009 and the challenges faced in generating public reports from the incidences captured thus the need to partner with Strathmore University in the generation of public consumable reports.
Ms. Asonga further expressed the need for academic institutions to partner with service providers in providing solutions to challenges affecting the industry while also encouraging different network players to be aware of their actions and possible outcomes within the ecosystem.
“Whereas we are focused on incidences addressing and troubleshooting; we have the technical skills to resolve them, but we have not been able to share this information with the public to create awareness so that there is change of behavior with the consumers and the end users. Therefore partnering with @iLabAfrica research and Innovation Centre for us is very important because it gives us an opportunity to go back to our consumers and tell them what to look out for as it affects their networks to a certain extend. We are also keen to ensure that we have digital citizens who are also responsible for their security and that of other people sharing networks” said Ms. Asonga.
@iLabAfrica Director, Dr. Sevilla said a collaboration with TESPOK is a great opportunity for Strathmore University which has a vast experience in training on cyber security courses, data collection and analysis. He further promised to commit resources towards making the new pact fully operational to the benefit of the two institutions and the public at large towards solving cyber security threats which are growing over the years locally and globally.
“Globally, cyber security threats have been increasing, attackers are becoming more sophisticated and we in Kenya are not in isolation, as a country are increasingly becoming a target of international attack. Locally, tech skills are improving and some individuals are using these skills to protect installations while others are likely to use them for criminal intent and that is what we need to protect ourselves and businesses from” said Dr. Sevilla.
Dr. Sevilla further acknowledged the existence of large data globally on the extent of cyber-crime activities but very little of it had been broken down into easily understandable language for the public, promising that the university had skilled personnel to analyze available data into easily consumable public information by local communities and institutions through the partnership with TESPOK.
The partnership between the two institutions also seeks to create more awareness on the need for members of the public to have deeper understanding of cyber security issues and take lead roles towards curbing personal cyber security incidences.