| dc.description.abstract | Mobile telephone operators in Kenya have been using social media in their business
activities. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent to which social media is
used by mobile operators in Kenya, to identify the risks that mobile operators are exposed to
when they use social media and to determine the mitigation measures that they have put in
place in order to mitigate the risks. A descriptive survey research design targeting managers
in the Human Resource, Marketing, Customer Service, Operations, Legal, Social Media and
Information Technology departments in the four mobile operators in Kenya was adopted at
the time of the study. The study utilized primary data that was collected through a selfadministered
structured questionnaire. One of the key findings of the study was that social
media had been widely adopted by the mobile telephone operators in Kenya. Secondly, the
study established that mobile operators were exposed to social engineering attacks, disclosure
of intellectual property rights, disclosure of confidential information, malware spread and
non-compliance to privacy laws when they use social media. Lastly, the study established
that mobile operators enforced social media policies, monitored activity on their social media
sites, trained their employees and used symbols in risk communication to mitigate their
exposure to social media risks. The study recommended that the mobile operators should
adopt a training model that includes an annual or bi-annual refresher sessions for all
employees in addition to the first social media training that is done when the employees are
newly employed in order to increase the state of awareness of social media risks. The study
also recommended that the mobile phone operators should adopt a co-ordinated and
integrated approach to social media policy development. Lastly, mobile telephone operators
who do not have disaster management plans should develop them in order to have a clear set
of procedures to use in decision making in case of a social media breach or attack. | en_US |
