The Zimbabwe Information & Communication Technology (ZICT) Chairman, Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi said the Zimbabwean population is vulnerable to cyber threats and that the government should speed up the implementation of Computer Crime and Cyber Security Bill. Speaking ahead of the two-day Cyber Security Conference to be hosted at Celebration Centre in Harare, Engineer Mutisi expressed the need for the public to know about the cyber threats and how to protect themselves.
“It is the role of the public to know what to expect in today world of Internet of Things (IoT) and how to protect themselves. Cyber Security is not about the government protecting you it’s your role to protect yourself e.g. your Gmail is personal what do you do to make sure you are safe from hackers,” said Eng. Mutisi.
Zimbabwe is lagging behind in Cybersecurity and the Cyber Security Conference running under the theme, “Cyber Security: Our Shared Responsibility” is the first step towards ensuring that the Zimbabwean population is properly protected from the cyber threats they face every day.
Engineer Mutisi called for the adoption of the Computer Crime and Cyber Security Bill that is before Parliament as this will help in identifying cybercriminals and to make better use of the Cyber Security function of the ministry of ICT and Cyber Security.
“Zimbabwe is the only country in the world to have the cybersecurity ministry and should implement the structures that are needed,” added Mutisi.
Engineer Mutisi also noted that members of the public need to be educated of the cyber threats they are exposed to as there are a lot of people in Zimbabwe who believe that cyber-attacks are only for developed countries and not for people in Zimbabwe.
“We will do a demo on one can be fooled to believe that the money transfer they not is genuine yet it will be fake. As a country using the financial technology we will prove that some are vulnerable to abuse,” he said.
ZICT has drawn inspiration from China where serious measures have been taken to deal with e-commerce and internet-related cases by setting up Cyber Courts. The cyber court handles cases such as online trade disputes, copyright lawsuits and product liability claims for online purchases contract disputes arising from online shopping, product liability disputes arising from online shopping, internet service contract disputes, internet copyright infringement disputes, and disputes arising from financial loans executed online. With an increase in electronic money transfers in Zimbabwe, and the general adoption of the internet for everyday use in Zimbabwe only increases the risk of cyber-attacks which needs to be carefully dealt with.
