Time to embrace cyber security laws

Source: Time to embrace cyber security laws | The Financial Gazette January 11, 2018

By Own Correspondent

By Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi

FROM the computers on our desks, the cars that we drive, and the phones that we carry, the planes we fly, the banks that hold our money, the hospitals that keep us healthy and the very infrastructure that keeps our cities running, it is evident that information and commucation technology (ICT) has become the backbone of human life.

This dependence on ICT is the reason why our government should immediately enact the Computer Crime and Cyber Security Bill into law.

It has been 12 years since the Government of Zimbabwe pledged to come up with solutions to curb cyber crime. Surely 12 years is a very long time considering that technology has literally taken over our day to day life.

Our recent research shows that government institutions have been less affected by security breaches when compared to the private sector. Hence government has found no reason to fast track this important bill.

As Zimbabwe Information Communication Technologies (ZICT) we are reliably informed that the Computer Crime and Cyber Security Bill is currently being moved from one office to the other at the Attorney General’s department. This bill should be fast tracked so that the Minister of Information and Communication Technology and Cyber Security can start implementing it.

As ZICT we hope that all the necessary structures will be put in place as soon as possible to protect the people of Zimbabwe as we head towards the 2018 elections.

As a nation we live in an increasingly networked world, from personal banking to government infrastructure to mobile banking and moving towards a cashless society.
Protecting those networks is no longer optional, but a necessity.

Cyber security has to be on top of our national agenda as high-profile breaches raise fears that hacker attacks and other security failures will without a doubt endanger the Zimbabwe’s economy in the short-term.