Cyber security company Kaspersky Lab has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Smart Africa Alliance, which will see the two parties working together to drive improvement of protection of networks and critical systems across the continent.
According to Kaspersky Lab, the Smart Africa Alliance is responsible for bringing together organisations at both local and international level to transform Africa into a knowledge economy through ICT enablement.
The Smart Africa Alliance works with the private and public sector to assist in ensuring that there is access to broadband and ICT throughout the continent. Increased access also means increased threats, and so being successful requires heightened levels of security education and awareness, states Kaspersky.
Eugene Kaspersky, chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, says: "We are pleased to launch this cooperation with Smart Africa as this partnership is doing a very important job in the region. Building a strong IT base and developing capabilities and skills means creating a strong base for sustainable economic development. But smart digital technologies bring many new risks and threats, and it's very important to make cyber security an integral part of the development process."
The memorandum was signed by Eugene Kaspersky and Dr. Hamadoun Tour'e, executive director of Smart Africa, at the Kaspersky Lab headquarters in Moscow recently. Under the terms of the memorandum, Kaspersky Lab will provide cyber security expertise to the Smart Africa Alliance. In addition, the parties agreed to exchange data relating to cyber threats on the continent.
At the signing ceremony, Dr. Tour'e, who is also the former secretary general of the UN's International Telecommunication Union, said; "As we move Africa to becoming an information and knowledge-driven society, it becomes absolutely necessary to cooperate with major cyber security organisations, such as Kaspersky Lab, to ensure that rapidly growing digital infrastructure is safe and secure. In the digital age, network security and integrity of information are becoming extremely important, as does the confidentiality of personal data. This makes cyber security a top priority for Smart Africa. We are very pleased with our cooperation with Kaspersky Lab."
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