Cyber has become a political, economic and social competition space these days positively or negatively affecting the life of mankind across the world. It is also the new battleground among countries where almost all of them are striving to strengthen privacy, accessibility and comprehensiveness.
Countries usually become more vulnerable to cyberattacks when they undertake massive projects, elections or engage in cyber events. Consecutive cyber-attacks have been attempted on Ethiopia following country’s progress in the filling of the grand renaissance dam and the 6th general elections, and the national survival operation against the TPLF group.
Ethiopia’s Information Network Security Agency (INSA) is working in this regard as the country is facing various attempts of cyberattacks. According to INSA Director General Shumete Gizaw (PhD), Ethiopia is experiencing various negative influences of cyberattacks forwarded from influential social media users and powerful western media with regard to its current political and economic situation.
Several social media users are involving in cyberbullying towards Ethiopia and its friends. “However this cannot be achieved as the country is not strange for such intimidations. If we wish to realize self-sufficiency, we have to do it in the technology sphere as well. To this end, we are developing potential social media options for the people,” he said. It is impossible to defeat Ethiopia through technology theft and intimidation on social media, Shumete noted.
Last month, Ethiopia has celebrated the International Cybersecurity Day for the second time. This year’s cybersecurity month was successful in creating basic public awareness on the area in various institutions. The agency was also able to work on addressing cyber space customers than any other times. It has given training about cybersecurity to some specified public institutions.
“The National Cybersecurity Month was celebrated in a way that raise the awareness of individuals and institutions on cyber security,” as to the Director General. The month was successful in taking on board several stakeholders in the area and equipping them with the needed technical and practical knowledge about cyber-attack and protection mechanisms.
“We expect them to audit their technologies to use appropriate developments in this dynamic spectrum. We are endeavoring to realize integrated work in the area to strengthen security and utilize state-of-the-art technologies. We are nurturing talented youths including adolescents to make them guardians of country’s cyber space in the long run,” Shumete noted.
INSA is striving towards ensuring cyber security by integrating human resource, system and technology. These inputs are crucial to the national effort to enable the country to defend attacks by progressing one step from the capability of the perpetrators.
“We would have been languishing from economic, political and moral injuries if the attempts of the cyberattacks had achieved their missions,” Shumete said. As to him, cybersecurity is about national sovereignty. Therefore, the Agency can’t fail from protecting the country’s digital space to be breached by any enemy.
Organizations need to have their own institutional cybersecurity policies to facilitate cyber infrastructures and monitor their data processing system to avert possible attacks. In 2020/21Ethiopia has prevented more than 2800 attempts of cyberattacks in which most of them are targeted to strike the country following the progressive national issues like the filling of the grand dam, undertaking general elections and law enforcement operation, mentioned INSA Cybersecurity Head Fitsum Wesine. AU, Ethiopian Airlines and Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation are among the organizations that faced cyberattack on their social media in 2020/21.
“For example, INSA has foiled an attack by Cyber Horus on 37,000 interconnected computers in governmental organizations. These attempts were mainly targeting country’s national election and the law enforcement operation,” according to Shumete.
Absence of institutional cybersecurity directives, technology and knowledge is among the reason to the increment of the attempts. Therefore, the institutions ought to prepare their own policies and systems to defend themselves from cyberattack. The directives must be formulated in a way that ensures transparency and accountability and strengthen the capability of the institutions to this end, Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority Deputy Director General Yonatan Tesfaye said.
Cyber is dynamic, complicated and borderless concept. Therefore its needs an integrated, strengthened and knowledge-based effort to ensure national security. Hanibal Lemma, Cyber Management Division Head said that INSA has offered cybersecurity products and services for governmental organizations. Efforts are underway to expand these products and services nationwide. He called on other organizations to work with the Agency to achieve national security.
Upgrading the knowledge of country’s cyber professionals is crucial to enable them to have the knowledge that the current world is in need in the area for reliable protection. Therefore, we will work to achieve this by expanding cyber education at higher educational institutions Education Minister Prof. Berhanu Nega expressed.
INSA is also working from now on expanding knowledge to intended bodies to ensure cybersecurity in the future. Accordingly, it recently has given training to political parties to develop their understanding on cybersecurity and the mechanism of defending cyberattack.
The trainees discussed activities that can expose the politicians and their parties for cyberattack, and the reason behind the attack. However, if they do not use their cyberspaces cautiously, they will be easily exposed for attack on their website, email and social media accounts. These attacks may cause defamation, debunking, and damaging of infrastructures among others of the parties.
INSA Deputy Director General Yidnekachew Worku said that 80 percent of the cyber attack occurring across the world happens due to low public awareness. Therefore the political parties ought to facilitate the working environment for cybersecurity beyond upgrading awareness to the members of their parties in the sphere. They also need to craft agenda and advocacy for cybersecurity. Political leaders or parties are future rulers of the country. Therefore, they need to take the agenda work on it to achieve the sphere’s development and ensure country’s cyber sovereignty.
INSA Director General, Shumete Gizaw (PhD
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
The Ethiopian Herald 12 November 2021
