Does Zimbabwe have the information Security and Cyber Security Experts to protect itself?

With constant headlines of electronic fraud, mobile money fraud, RTGS fraud and other means of payments that are constantly reported in the media on a daily basis. There is now a need to build a database of information security personnel and cyber security experts in Zimbabwe. We as a nation continue to accept and embrace new technology and digital currency more than any other country in Africa.

There is now a need to have security structures in place to protect ourselves, businesses and the country at large.  The shift towards technology-driven solutions is on the increase in Zimbabwe as evidenced by the high uptake of information communication technology (ICT) systems across the nations divide.

Day to day business operations, individual life and governance processes now take shape within the digital horizon at a faster pace than ever before.  In a business ICTs have become a major driver of economic activity with businesses now investing more money and resources in modern technology development than ever before. With these modern and fast paced technology advancement in Zimbabwe, security and protection is now more important than ever. Today, the major threats facing every modern nation in the world are of digital nature. In response, Zimbabwe now needs to implement serious measures to counter these threats and enhance the overall security of our systems. As such, securing cyberspace should be high priority today for Zimbabwe's administration.

To deal with these growing threat, Zimbabwe country must leverage the forces of the market by motivating the private sector to make the sort of dynamic and continual investment required to secure their companies' and the networks systems that they operate on.

With this in mind there is now a need to identify companies and individuals who can protect us and the nation at large. We are now asking companies and individual who are in information Security and Cyber security to simply furnish us with their First name, last name, company, qualifications, email address, cellphone number and email to info@zict.org.zw to us so that we add them in our database and call them when the is need arises.

This will help in developing a National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)and industry-specific CERTs be it for manufacturing, banking or even academia. With the growing alignment to Industry 4.0 in Zimbabwe, creating this database is of the outmost importance. Doing so will help us determine the skills gap in information security and cybersecurity in Zimbabwe and will also aid institutions leading the path in cybersecurity skills development such as Harare Institute of Technology perform this essential role. If you need any further information and details do not hesitate to contact Dr Robert Shonhiwa +263775058166.

Regards
ZICT