Harare must invest in cyber technology
IT is prudent for a nation like Zimbabwe, despite the oasis of hate, disdain for each other and political bigotry, to understand that a foreign aggressor will not care about the level of hatred you have towards each other but will capitalise and seize the opportunity the moment the aggressor recognises that your telecommunications, electrical power systems, banking infrastructure, water supply system, emergency services and continuity of government are up for the taking.
Cyber weapons represent a potent asymmetric threat that can make any superpower tremble. Critical infrastructure remains at risk of cyber intrusion and from aggressors who are using cyber weapons to compromise our defence and civilian infrastructure.
It is saddening to recognise that cyber weapons can today be utilised as military capabilities of another nation whom we are at odds with. Beyond that, these tools can be used by non-state actors hiding behind another nation making attribution immensely difficult.
In essence, these tools of warfare are beyond being dangerous and are hermetically confined, cheek by jowl, with the ever-escalating asymmetric threat perspective presently being faced by the international community and nation states post-Cold War, primarily after the promulgation of the Bush Doctrine.
Countries such as the US have long recognised the potency of the cyber realm as a theatre of war that subsequent presidents, post-Bill Clinton have come up with numerous directives aimed at ensuring the American body politic and governance architecture is ready to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the US through ensuring that a raft of interventions are in place to mitigate against the negative implications of cyber attacks on that country.
Zimbabwe must learn something from this pragmatic approach.
It is incumbent upon Harare to make robust investments in Research and Development expenditure to ensure that critical infrastructure and relevant cyber technology can indeed protect the nation from numerous cyber vulnerabilities.
is effort must be predicated upon an undying desire to ensure that essential assets are comprehensively protected from intrusive cyber attacks whilst appreciating the susceptibility and vulnerability of critical infrastructure to cyber attacks. is must be complemented by having a robust comprehensive understanding of how hard it will be for the asset to recover in the event that a cyber attack is successful. Definitely, the thrust-risk cognition.
Besides viewing social media with absolute disdain as a definite threat to the security of the country, a lot still needs to be done to recognise that the number of persons connected to the internet can be directly related to and linked with the omnipresence of cyber threats to the country. Attacks are being witnessed on individuals, companies and nation states and this reality means that we have to rethink our security architecture.
A good point to ponder upon is the reality that most critical infrastructure in Zimbabwe does not fall directly within the confines of security and defence sectors. is indicates the importance of the nexus of, and between, the military and civilian establishment in creating a bulwark against threats from any sphere, in this instance, the cyber realm. ese threats can be local in scope, international in design or national security related. However, their dangers to national sovereignty cannot be ignored.
To minimise vulnerabilities, investments in knowledge, from the primary level of socialisation right through to puberty, must be integrated within our curriculum. e country needs knowledge and expertise that can enable it to identify these cyber threats, protect our critical infrastructure, detect cyber intrusion, respond and recover from a cyber attack event.
Our institutions ought to be nimble enough to be able to come up with laws, policies and procedures that give the country the wherewithal to meet the stated aspirations. In its current scope, format and design, our parliament is in "yoyoland", beyond comatose and buried in an avalanche of hate rhetoric, looting enterprise driven by perquisite-seeking elected officials who believe in the supremacy of their interests over the safety of the people who vote them into office.
In a nutshell, we are many "light years" to enlightenment and without that enlightenment, we run the risk of being, as a country, the next victim of a "clickskrieg".