Cyber Terrorism and National Security in Africa: a Case Study of Kenya

Abstract

Technology in the World today has taken up all facets of life today than ever before. For instance Africa is rapidly developing and has become an increasingly technologically advanced in its Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. However, this advancement has also introduced a new challenge to many states. The research study objective was to examine cyber terrorism and national security in Africa through case study of Kenya. This is because the spread of technology has created some new vulnerability within the cyber domain that directly works to undermine national security. The susceptibilities of cyber space to attacks have grown without a corresponding defensive capability. The cybercriminals have developed an application that infiltrates and interfere with critical cyber technology infrastructure to obtain classified information and breaks bank accounts to steal money. This research employed quantitative and qualitative study approaches and the final field data source was eventually analysed Statistical Packages for the Social Science while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The respondents who participated in this research included professionals in Information Communication Technology technical roles, security officers, financial institutions, academia, diplomats, legal institutions Information Technology and others. This research explored the measures and strategies applied in Kenya to safeguard the ICT sector against cyber threats. The study analyzed how cyber terrorism has on Kenya’s national security. The research contextualized the concept of cyber security within the Securitization Theory in order to understand cyber technology and its effects to national security. This study found that cyber-attacks in Kenya have become prevalent and more serious to national security due to its porous nature and complexity. This research further found that the increase in cyber threats has been associated with computer use across various sectors of the economy which has attracted criminals to exploit the opportunities available. This research concludes that threats posed by cyber terrorism spreads especially with advancement of technology many cyber users have become vulnerable to online attacks and the threats can be overwhelming since they originate from anywhere on the globe. This section recommends that all government institutions shop protect their cyber systems against threats through the use of firewalls and antivirus software to curb the spread of malware in case a network is infected.