CyberScape Africa Magazine Q2 2019 | Page 18

CYBER SCAPE AFRICA | Q2 2019 There is a need for more ‘real’ sessions for the IT teams in the region to be prepared to handle any type of attack. The simulated environment mimics a typical organization with servers, networking devices, security solutions (Firewalls, Endpoints, SIEMS), client running both Windows & Linux. The simulated environment provides a space to make mistakes at no cost to an organization but more importantly the IT teams learn and are able to implement proactive cyber defense measures within their organizations. In the near future Virtual Reality (VR) will be implemented to make the training more realistic where the IT Teams will even interact with physical devices and people in the virtual rooms. The VR platform will provide an opportunity for film study just like it done in sports – there is no better way to learn than watch yourself make mistakes. East Africa as an export center for cyber security talent & skills The key is continued investment in building our people’s capacity – H.E Paul Kagame, President for Rwanda. Business is the best way to create a lasting prosperity Cyber attacks are inevitable just like death howev- er, we can just sit and wait. Our next steps is to grow the Africa cyber security talent by an annual rate of 10%. This will be achieved through the alliance formed and partnerships with Universities and other learning institutions. If our public and private organizations can get access to skilled cyber security professionals, then we can bring down the cost of cyber crime in Africa. Our people will gain more trust in digital business which in turn creates more opportunities for our businesses and also attracts investments. East Africa and greater African has the potential of becoming a global cybersecurity powerhouse. The diversity and magnitude of the market are key to economic growth however, cyber crime will drag the continent behind. GDPR( de facto data privacy regulation) will be a major catalyst in the Foreign Direct Investment in the continent, however with low cyber security standards investors will shy away from the continent. Young Africans are excited & motivated to learn about cyber security and they want to create a mark in their respective countries. Feedback received from the project is that people want more of such simulated trainings that will provide more challenging situations to invoke new thought processes in cyber defense methods. This is an exciting challenge for us as the project promoters to take Cyber4Growth to other regions in Africa – West, Central, South and North. Special thanks to Yelbridges (Kenya), USIU-Africa (Kenya), MagilaTech(Tanzania), MilimaTech(Uganda), Bizoneer Consulting Africa LTD(Rwanda). 18