Rwanda: IT leaders highlight strategies to combat cybercrime

Rwanda is giving all its endeavours to secure consumers from becoming prey to cybercriminals with the rapid advancement in technology. The Information Technology (IT) leaders gathered at Cloud and Security Summit last week in Kigali where they expressed interest for a sustainable response to the growing threat of cybercrime.

According to The New Times, Rwanda is strategizing plans to boosting its ability in combating cybersecurity threats. The Central Bank’s data revealed that cybercriminals stole an average of Rwf289.5 million in 22 separate incidences last year. Thus, the Rwandan government feels there is an absolute need to make its cybersecurity robust at different levels.

“It is really very clear to all of us that these emerging technologies are going exacerbate cyber risks and we need to start thinking very, very quickly of how to mitigate and respond to this,” the ICT Minister Paula Ingabire opined. “We need to put in place strategies that ensure that all stakeholders across the entire ecosystem work together to address some of these challenges,” Ingabire added.

The CEO of Rwanda Information Society Authority, Innocent Muhizi said that the cybersecurity breaches or attacks are real, citing computer viruses that disrupt the operations of various institutions. “There are also hackers who might intrude systems. But, because we have set up measures, there are those we detect – estimated at between 20 and 50 per day – as they attempt to enter different systems,” he opined. According to him, some organizations need to protect their systems with updated antiviruses and the systems must be updated on a regular basis.

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