Take extra precaution, says cyber security expert
What you need to know:
- According to him, 55 percent of SMEs experienced some form of cyber attack, this is according to a Ponemon Institute study report.
Dar es Salaam. Internet users and organisations have been urged to take extra precaution by being cyber smart because criminals do not only target high profile establishments but also many small businesses and individual users.
Cybersecurity and digital forensics expert, Mr Yusuph Kileo said that cyber Security becomes an important building block in establishing customer trust for both small and large organizations, but startups are very easy targets for hackers due to inefficient, incomplete or a complete absence of cyber security measures.
"We are seeing many smaller organisations running on older systems with little or sometimes no protection at all. In most cases, Startups pay more attention to sales and operations that most often overlook security as part of their agenda,” he said.
As Africa Information Communication Technology Alliance (AfICTA) observes the cybersecurity awareness month, cyber incidents and privacy issues can cause loss of customer/business and organisation critical data which can result in damage of goodwill and reputation.
According to him, 55 percent of SMEs experienced some form of cyber attack, this is according to a Ponemon Institute study report.
“If your business uses any computing device or the internet or has a digital presence such as a website or cloud accounts, then you are at risk of cyberattacks.”
He added: As the AfICTA continues, I urge all organisations to use the ongoing cybersecurity awareness month to educate their employees and customers on how to be secure as they interact with Technology.
Mr Kileo added that abiding by the basic cyber security compliance goes a long way in achieving a goal of a secured product or service and creating safety and privacy for customers, thus helping startups to build a trustworthy brand.
Mr Kileo who is also a board member of AfiCTA said startups should consider cybersecurity as one of the IT investments needed. Besides, there are cost-effective anti-malware and security software that you can use for your office computers.
