Online abuse grows ten-fold in 3 months

A woman surfs the Internet using a mobile phone. Cyber bullying cases are on the rise. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By PATRICK ALUSHULA

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Summary

• Between January and March, more than 7.9 million cyber threats were reported, out of which online abuse recorded the fastest jump from just 140 last October to 1,757 in December.
• Online abuse is any type of abuse that happens on the web, whether through social networks such as Facebook, playing online games or using mobile phones.
• The Communications Authority of Kenya said the common forms of abuse witnessed were online fraud, hate speech, incitement to violence and fake news.

Reported cases of online abuse increased more than 10 times to 1,757 in the three months to March.

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) data shows that between January and March, more than 7.9 million cyber threats were reported, out of which online abuse recorded the fastest jump from just 140 last October to 1,757 in December.

The CA said the National Computer Incident Response Team and Coordination Centre (CIRT/CC) validated and escalated 1,757 cases, which it determined to be critical and, therefore, required intervention.

Online abuse is any type of abuse that happens on the web, whether through social networks such as Facebook, playing online games or using mobile phones.

The CA said the common forms of abuse witnessed were online fraud, hate speech, incitement to violence and fake news.

In May, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Bill 2018.

The growth in such cases means that many Kenyans are staring at hefty fines of as much as Sh20 million under the new laws that cover offences related to computer systems, online insults, distribution of obscene images, child pornography, fraud, and cyberterrorism.

READ: President signs cybercrime law despite oppression fears

The authority’s data further shows that 5.69 million malware attacks, a drop from 7.89 million reported during the previous quarter, were witnessed.

The number of web application attacks rose to 1.25 million from 1.23 million, the CA said.

“During the period under review, the highest number of cyber threats targeted file sharing, web service and Voice over IP (VoIP) applications,” noted the CA.

The response team validated and escalated 3,488 critical cases that required intervention, up from 677 cyber threats detected during the second quarter.

“The increase in the number of escalated cyber threats was due to enhanced capabilities of the National CIRT/CC, and increased collaboration through new partnerships with other national CIRTs globally,” said the regulator.

The CA also named the popular default username and password combinations for a majority of products by software and hardware vendors that are now an easy target by hackers.