AfricaHackon, a cyber security firm established in the East African region in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, aims to raise awareness about internet security and improve it as well.
In a bid to achieve its goals, the AfricaHackOn firm has formulated a way in which to undertake their activities.
In some instances, this includes organizing conferences where they conduct presentations and carry out demonstrations on different platforms that suffer from cyber security flaws.
Apart from that, the firm further holds live discussions where they answer questions on the various topics affecting the industry.
In some cases, they charge a fee to attend and participate in their forums.
According to the organization's website, AfricaHackOn performs a variety of tasks, which include penetration testing, network security, mobile applications security, cloud security and any other work that pertains to the cyber security industry.
An increasing number of people are using smartphones all over the world and, as a result, there are more and more consumers downloading apps on the Google Play Store every day.
But due to a lack of awareness, most people don't know the precautions to take before installing apps.
This brings the goal of raising security awareness into the forefront of public priority.
Currently, many Android applications in the Google Play Store are infected with viruses in the form of spyware and malware.
As such, these apps aren't secure in the slightest-developers can monitor users' behaviors, activities, and even payments through these apps.
A recent example happened just last month, when 800 apps in the Google Play Store were infected with a malware virus that has been dubbed "Xavier."
The malicious program affects countless users of Android devices who download apps on the Play Store.
AfricaHackOn aims to make people aware of such issues and advises them to take precautionary measures.
For example, the group recommends users to avoid downloading applications carelessly on the store, as it increases their risk exposure.
They further demonstrate how other apps are insecure and how hackers can use them to steal very confidential data.
For this reason, one ought to adopt preventative measures to safeguard their own cyber security, such as checking the reviews of an app before downloading it.
Also, users are only to download apps from trusted sources-as their technical sophistication can be labeled as reputable, backed by legitimate security teams.
Penetration testing also referred to as "Pentest," is a cyber security measure meant to check flaws in networks, programs, platforms, and even websites.
AfrickaHackOn will offer solutions to a given fault after they have carried out a Pentest.
in the past has said AfricaHackOn tends to perform similar roles as the and conferences, which are among the world's most popular events for those in the hacking, IT and cyber security communities.
Just as DEFCON is used for hacking presentations in the United States since the year 1992, AfricaHackon aims to do the same in East Africa with Nairobi, Kenya being the center of its activities.
In an interview with CGTN, AfricaHackOn Co-Founder Dr. Bright Mawudor states that there is a general lack of awareness about cyber attacks among technology consumers in East Africa and Kenya in particular.
It is for this reason that perhaps he, together with his colleagues, decided to start AfricaHackOn and fill this important demand for public awareness and understanding about cyber issues.
Dr. Mawudor may be considered as an individual whose sole purpose is to make Africa at par with the rest of the world and in particular the developed Nations.
Currently, it is younger demographics who are actively involved in information technology throughout the globe.
It is at this stage of life that people get to acquire skills that will benefit not only themselves, but also generations to come through research and innovation.
For this reason, we see the like of Dr. Mawudor and his team come up with forums to discuss great ideas to further implement.
It's no wonder why the majority of attendees at their conferences are the younger generations.
As a result, AfricaHackOn has seen a significant boost after Kenya tech giant Safaricom offered assistance through funding its most recent conference.
In an interview with CGTN Africa, Safaricom Head of Technology Security Anthony Gacanja regarded goals to nurture young minds by collaborating with stakeholders in the industry and further empower individuals to adopt cyber security measures for themselves.
In a certain scenario, AfricaHackOn has collaborated with NALIAB, an organization that supports and funds entrepreneurial ventures and endeavors. What comes with that collaboration is a great opportunity for people with technology-driven ideas.
NAILAB CEO Sam Gichuru further encourages that the government should allocate funds to the industry, as it is with its other government departments such as security, health, etc. By doing this, the government will be able to reduce the level of cyber crime in a variety of ways.
First, the government can set up a task force which can look into the alleged misconduct of individuals engaging in acts that violate cyber security.
After this, the same task force can come up with penalties that will indeed discourage persons from participating in the crime.
As reported by several international and local media outlets, countries through financial institutions and other agencies lose large amounts of money to cyber criminals and other cartels.
If the relevant agencies can allocate funds to curb the vice by employing experts to look into these matters, then this figure will scale down without a doubt.
Currently, AfricaHackOn has its base in Nairobi, Kenya but with time they hope to grow to other parts of Africa.
Through the art of leverage, AfricaHackon aims to create a pool of expertise by bringing together individuals with multidisciplinary knowledge to the table.
Of course, there is strength in numbers, and people will get to share their experience and skills through this opportunity.
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