IDC East Africa held its regional meeting in Nairobi, bringing together local experts in IT security from Oracle, Nokia, EMC and Kaspersky.
The issue of IT security has evolved over the years. Banks, for example, no longer focus on vaults as the sole security issue, and many people connect to VPNs (virtual private networks) using mobile means, said Francis Hook, IDC East Africa regional manager.
“People are using personal devices to access company information, and many companies do not have policies to guard against such behavior,” he said. “People can easily hack databases and steal information.”
Forty percent of organizations in developed countries do not have security policies for mobile devices, according to research by IDC. This poses a challenge, given the lack of ICT laws in the region, Hook said.
Nokia, however, is developing new solutions to keep up with the technology, said Salil Dighe, Nokia’s sales manager in charge of business mobility. Given the numerous opportunities hackers have for exploiting vulnerabilities, Nokia will focus on not only the Internet, but on applications as well, he said.
“Nokia is committed to customizing solutions for businesses in Africa,” Dighe told the IDC meeting attendees. “We have invested a lot in research and development to meet requirements for the enterprise.”
Dighe encouraged techies to use the online Nokia forum to develop applications. If an application conforms to market requirements, he said, it is likely that Nokia will collaborate with the developer.
