An expert has decried the existence of too many agencies in the fight against cyber crimes in Nigeria. According to Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, the nation does not need any additional agency to combat cybercrimes.

In an exclusive interview, he advised that instead of setting up new agencies, what the existing agencies should do is to update their knowledge base on cyber crimes.

He said: “We already have too many agencies – EFCC, ICPC, Police, etc. They should all learn how to handle cyber crimes same way they learnt to handle new crimes that emerge. They need to retool, and un/relearn, not create another special money-draining but ineffective institution.”

He said the incessant call for creation of new agencies may not be unconnected with the desire of those who want to be in charge of the coordination of the fight against cyber crimes in Nigeria.

“For one, many people want to be in charge of the coordination, as either the coordinating agency, or to have a say in who manages the agency that could be established to manage cybercrime ‘policing’ in Nigeria. Fortunately, the talk of establishing an agency isn’t as popular anymore,” Sesan said.

He described the move by the Nigerian Senate to remove the controversial Section 13(3) of the Bill for an Act to Provide for the Prohibition and Punishment for Electronic Fraud and Crime in all Electronic Transactions in Nigeria as a wise one.

According to the section of the bill, individuals who use electronic channels to share information considered threatening to national security or that could incite against government could spend up to 7 years in jail or pay a fine to the tune of N5 million.

He said: “The reversal is a wise move by the Senate and the accompanying statements around assuring citizens that their rights won’t be tampered with is reassuring – even for a government institution not known with integrity of promises.

“Citizens should now realise that their complaints are useful, especially as it relates to contribution to lawmaking processes;

“Social media, the platform under attack (alongside general Internet Freedom) and also channel of expressing disgust at erring policies, is now a much more powerful tool than it was in 2010 (when it was used to organise the first set of social media-led protests), 2011 (when it was used to monitor elections) or 2012 (when it was used heavily for Occupy Nigeria protests).”

In a move aimed at making the Google Translation Service available in more African languages, the world’s biggest search engine, Google, has added three Nigerian languages – Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo to Google Translate.

The three languages are spoken by more than 100 million indigenous natives and are an addition to Google Translate which is currently available in more than 80 languages.

With the addition of Hausa (Harshen Hausa), spoken in Nigeria and neighbouring countries with 35 million native speakers, Igbo (Asụsụ Igbo) spoken in Nigeria with 25 million native speakers, Yoruba (èdè Yorùbá) spoken in Nigeria and neighbouring countries with 28 million native speakers; Google said it is helping about 115 million native speakers who have access to the web to connect with new people.

In addition to the web-based service, Google Translate can also be accessed via a dedicated Android app; there is also a desktop web app for the service.

A cross section of Nigerians have commended the Nigerian Senate for listening to the outcries of Nigerians who spoke against the section of the proposed bill on electronic fraud which recommended a five-year jail term for anyone who speaks against the government on social media.

Sen. Gbenga Kaka (APC-Ogun) on Tuesday announced that Senators had decided to delete section 13 (3) from the proposed bill on electronic fraud because it could be abused and misinterpreted.

The section stipulates a seven-year jail for people who intentionally publish slanderous messages about government electronically.

“Anyone who intentionally propagates false information that could threaten the security of the country or capable of inciting the general public against the government through electronic message shall be guilty of an offense.

“And upon conviction shall be sentenced to seven years imprisonment or N5 million fine. ”

According to him, they consulted with several stakeholders before reaching the decision.

“Following the public hearing which was held after the second reading, the section 13 (3) of the provision was taken exception to by the social media.

“And since the bill is now in the public, I decided to consult with the Senate Committee Chairman on Information, Media and Public Affairs, and that of Judiciary.

“After consultations, we resolved that section 13 (3) of the proposed bill could be abused at any point in time and could be misinterpreted.

“And as a result, I have their permission to announce to the world that that section shall be deleted.”

Many Nigerians who responded via social media this morning said the lawmakers made the right decision.

Tope Okeyanju said: “The lawmakers demonstrated that we are in a democracy where the voice of the people matters. They proposed it, we spoke against it and they hearkened to our call for its deletion.”

Dapo Awosanya said if they had gone ahead and passed the bill into law, many Nigerians would be silenced.

“Social media is currently the only place where we can say what is truly on our minds. If they take that away from us, it could lead to anarchy and social perversion,” he said.

The bill is entitled: ‘’A bill for an Act to provide for the prohibition of and punishment for electronic fraud and crime in all electronic transactions in Nigeria.’’

The bill passed through the second reading in the senate and was greeted with a lot of criticism from the social media.

We now shift gears today from your mobile phone to the internet, or should I say ‘IT stuff’ like the ordinary person will say.

Some words that are still puzzling people include:

• Cyber security- this are measures or technology procedures that are intended to protect computers, networks and data from unauthorized access or any other attacks that happen through the internet by cyber criminals.

Who are this cyber criminals and what is cybercrime.

• Cyber crime- This is an illegal action that is performed through computers as well as other internet devices, e.g. hacking (trying to break a code to access sealed information). Apart from hacking other cyber crimes include identity theft, hate speeches/crimes, telemarketing and internet fraud, credit card account theft. Well, of course cyber criminals are those that perform those actions.

• Cloud computing- This can be describe as connecting a significant number of computers through a communication network at the same time. One could say that cloud computing, also known as Cloud technology,  uses a network base provided by real server hardware which is simulated by software running on one or more devices.  This hardware are however not physically available so they can be moved around everywhere and anywhere; that’s why is called cloud.

Energy journalism Awards has been launched in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.

Organized by the ministry of Energy and Petroleum and utilities under the ministry, the award is looking to ensure that Kenyans are well informed about the industry as well as major projects planned both for accountability and support for the citizens.

The awards seek to promote accurate and comprehensive coverage of energy matters in the country. Journalists from all platforms have until end of January 2014 to submit entries which will be judged and winners announced in March.

The launch was officiated by Kenya’s Principal Secretary in the ministry, Eng. Joseph Njoroge. He noted that recent happenings in the sector had raised energy’s stakes even higher.

“With discovery of commercial oil reserves and the deliberate plans by the government to generate over 5000MW of electricity over the next forty months, the energy sector will greatly improve the economic performance of our  country”, noted the PS.  “Provision of modern energy always mirrors the economic performance of any country in the world. As Kenya takes major steps in availing more modern energy, the impact on the economy will certainly be felt. Since energy tends to be a technical subject, we must partner with the media to break it down so that we can move together as a people”.

Speaking during the launch, Acting KenGen CEO Eng. Simon Ngure said there is need for all Kenyans and energy stakeholders to keep abreast and be adequately informed on the development of energy resources in the country.

“The ambitious power plans by the government aim at giving Kenyans quality and affordable electricity and hence deserve support by all”, said Ngure.

The awards categories will focus on various energy sub themes such as energy policy and regulation, efficiency and green initiatives, petroleum, electricity and power distribution. Other categories will focus on rural electrification initiatives, energy finance and community relation stories on energy matters.

After years of relying on data from a time-consuming civilian weather system, a team from the Horn of Africa Combined Joint Task Force, have just installed a new innovative weather system at the Kenya Military Airport in Nairobi.

The system, called the TMQ-53 Tactical Meteorological Observing System, will now help war planners and combat weather teams through weather sensors connected to a computer. The system would use low-earth orbiting satellites to collect data, enabling the transmission of mission-critical weather data within an hour after receiving it. The new system provides current weather conditions to the Kenyan Defense Forces, which will enhance the safety of future missions.

In support of defeating extremist groups in East Africa, the team of innovators included U.S. service members from the J3 Meteorological and Oceanographic Office, J3 Special Operations Command and Control Element Weather System and Support Cadre and the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, zealous to see the system operating efficiently.

According to US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Rachel Martin, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Joint Meteorological and Oceanographic Officer, enhancing safety and effectiveness of the Kenyan Defense Forces ground and air operations was one of many positive results of the mil-to-mil engagement.

Also in support of the concept with METOC were J3 WSSC technicians that would help install and provide working knowledge of the system to KDF personnel.

The team had to ensure the location was right for the system and properly installed,  said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Harlan Rogers, noncommissioned officer in charge of the cadre adding that  the Kenyans co-workers were “very sharp, fast learners, and their attention to detail was amazing.”

Senior Airman Michael Becker, the cadre’s lead technician, noted that installing the TMQ-53 system while communicating to the Kenya Defense Force how proper maintenance and handling the equipment, helps it last longer builds that trust in a relationship with KDF.

Samsung Electronics has launched the 840 EVO mSATA (mini-Serial ATA) Solid State Drive (SSD) line-up, including the industry’s first 1 terabyte (TB) mSATA SSD this month.

The Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD is an extension of the 840 EVO line-up which was introduced in July at Samsung SSD Global Summit. The new SSD features the compact mSATA form factor which is roughly a quarter size of a 2.5-inch SSD, and offers the same level of high density and high performance.

“With the new mSATA SSD line-up offering up to 1TB of memory and an optimized software tool, we expect that consumers can enjoy high storage volume and performance on ultra-slim notebooks besides desktop PCs,” said Unsoo Kim, senior vice president, memory brand product marketing, Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to bring leading-edge SSD products and software solutions with improved quality and reliability, while working on offering higher consumer satisfaction and strengthening competitiveness of our branded memory business.”

The new 840 EVO mSATA SSD utilizes Samsung’s advanced 128 gigabit (Gb) NAND flash memory based on 10 nanometer class process technology. To form a 1TB version SSD, a total of four flash memory packages are used, each package having 16 layers of 128Gb chips. Based on the advanced memory technology, the 1TB mSATA SSD is 3.85 millimeters thick and a weighs 8.5 grams, which are approximately 40 percent and a twelfth of a typical hard disk drive (HDD) respectively.

The 840 EVO mSATA SSD line-up is available in 120GB, 250GB, 500GB and 1TB, and achieves the highest level of performance based on Samsung’s proprietary controller and TurboWrite technology.

The 1TB version offers 98,000 random read and 90,000 random write IOPS (Input Output Operations Per Second), as well as sequential read and write speed of 540 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 520 MB/s, enabling complex multi-tasking for advanced users.

Applying 256-bit AES keys, the new mSATA SSD allows strong data security, and is compliant with TCG Opal and IEEE 1667 standards. Users can also easily move their data to the new SSD using Samsung Data Migration as well as Samsung Magician 4.3 which are compatible with Windows 8 and support 10 languages.

The 840 EVO mSATA SSD line-up will be available this month globally, and exact launching date can vary depending on the region. Samsung will continue to introduce leading-edge SSDs with higher performance and security level, and maintain its leading position in the global SSD market.

The African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI), managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), announced the official launch of the redesigned AFMI website

The website shows new features including a mobile-friendly interface. In the same occasion, AFMI also launched the inaugural edition of the AFMI newsletter, The African Bond Market Review.

The African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI) is an African Development Bank Initiative designed to promote African bond markets.

An integral component of the AFMI website is the Data Portal, which provides a variety of data namely:

• High frequency data from Thomson Reuters’ Knowledge Direct platform

• Low frequency data on macroeconomic indicators, debt indicators and governance indicators from the AfDB;

• Static data and content on bond market infrastructure, monetary policy and public debt management from African Central Banks, Ministries of Finance and stock exchanges.

The AFMI website provides more than data and information, it provides a platform for AFMI stakeholders and development partners to engage in debates on a range of bond market development issues.

The website is currently available in English, with the French version of the website available in the first quarter 2014.

AFMI is funded by the AfDB, the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance and the Canadian International Development Agency.

Its easy to pass a tech story because one word doesn’t make sense to you, or your just too bored to look it up. So here is your tech dictionary of the day.

Some of the words that have been difficult for many but not for you who knows; we use some not knowing their meaning, lets take for example your phone

• HD Super amoled- amoled is display technology for use in mobile devices and television; it is used in addressing pixels or digital imaging. It is therefore responsible for an image’s clarity displayed by the latter. HD super amoled when the pixel count becomes more, meaning that no detail is left out. That’s why we find that some phones produce clearer and better photos than others.

• iOS- This is a mobile operating system that was developed by Apple Inc and was purposely made for iPhone but it has also been included in the iPad, iPod, and others. The sad thing about Apple’s iOS is that is cannot be used by any other devices except for theirs (yeah, i know, typically Apple)

• Android- Android is more than just that robot with a face that appears on your android phone when make or receive a call. Android refers to an operating system that was created by Google and is used by most touch screen and smartphone. The Android operating system is an open source meaning that developers can make a different one for each phone, as well as which is what makes it different form iPhone OS.

• Windows Phone-  This is a mobile operating system for smartphones that is the successor to Microsoft’s initial mobile OS platform that is more consumer market oriented.  unlike other smartphone that apps are on the screen the windows phone consists of a start screen which has tiles which link to apps and features. The bottom line is  that the start screen looks like Windows 8 software in a computer.