Africa-Press – Namibia. Namibian Police Force Deputy Inspector General for Administration Anne-Marie Nainda has highlighted the need for staff upskilling, processes and systems capacitation to effectively combat cyber crimes.
She said current and emergent crime trends are cyber-enabled and related, and it is crucial to improve policing capabilities.
She noted that private and public sector cooperation is vital.
She was speaking to New Era at the recently ended Namibia International Cybersecurity Conference and Exhibition.
“We can simply not do without [this cooperation] since this is a new form of crime that we are addressing. We need a lot of technical skill as well as our different private sector companies to come on board so that we solidify our relationship in terms of good collaboration to fight this menace,” Naida stated.
Nevertheless, cybercrime in Namibia continues to rise.
The latest reports indicate a strong target on data organisations, public and financial institutions and political actors.
“The [Cybercrime Bill] is not yet finalised, and we are relying on various existing laws to enforce it from those perspectives. In terms of capacity, we do have capacity – not yet at the level where we want it, but we’ve got a lot of international cooperation. We get assistance from some of the countries that are at a better stage at this moment. We have a lot of relationships where we continue to pursue what is available to strengthen our capability and capacity,” she added.
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology last week said the Cybercrime Bill finalisation has been delayed due to a lack of local expertise in cyber law, a challenge also encountered with the Data Protection Bill.
Also speaking at the conference, Cimplicity Institute’s information security analyst Ashly Mshlanga highlighted the importance of vocational education in bridging the skills gap in the cybersecurity industry.
She said that, through short training programmes, the government can accelerate the training curve and increase human capital in the industry.
“University degrees give a four-year length of study, and companies have to wait this long for graduates. That is money being lost by corporations and the federal government. Instead of waiting for four years, we can accelerate that time by having individuals attend programmes that are six to twelve months long. By this, we will accelerate talent and the number of defenders who can defend our systems and critical infrastructure,” she stated.
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