Dear GKD Members, I am an educator in the areas of Computer Security, Cyber Crime, Computer Forensics and IT Security Policy, therefore, I will admit a potential bias in my thoughts on the matter under discussion here.
I do believe the first and most critical step towards allowing developing countries (e.g., countries on the African continent) to more fully take part in electronic commerce and the deployment of a secure IT infrastructure is to institute educational training programs in Information Technology and the Secondary and Post-Secondary level. E-Centers and CSIRTs can more easily be implemented by educational institutions that are developing the necessary and qualified work force in the first place. Further, the educational institutions, if self-managed, provide at least one degree of separation between governments and the e-Centers and CSIRTs often raising the credibility of the latter organizations. I hope my comments on this list have been helpful. I welcome any response or further discussion. Thank you, Ajay Gupta, CISSP Director of IT Security Services [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Tuesday, September 28, 2004, Olu Olatidoye wrote: > The e-Center solution is based on the proven Electronic Commerce > Resource Centers (ECRC) framework with the proper infrastructure adapted > to the cultural environment in African countries. ...snip... > I see a need for e-Centers in Africa, because if one link of the Global > economy pipeline is unsecured, then the rest of the pipline is > vulnerable. This calls for a collective solution. ...snip... > As simple as this may sound to the members of this forum, about ten > years ago, in the US, there had to be a Value Added Network (VAN) > provider to handle the secured business transaction environment which > later led to more companies handling their own data as the internet > became more secure. There is a need for e-Centers in African Countries > that will focus on the EC/EDI and Cyber-Security infrastructure. Some of > the functions of the e-Centers will be and not limited to, 1) Education > and Training, 2) Outreach and Technical Support 3) Technology > Development that will address EDI. The continent of Africa can draw on > existing expertise in the E-Commerce infrastructure industries, with > special regard to the cultural environment. However, most of the time, > due to the greed of some government officials in some countries or lack > of understanding, they deal only with vendors that will sell them > equipment and not a solution. ...snip... > Along with the establishment of e-Centers, what any country in Africa > will also need are Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT). > The main role of a CSIRT is to create trust links between itself and its > constituency, on one hand, and between itself and the other CSIRTs. ...snip... > With the progressive development of networks and information systems in > Africa, the continent needs to develop CSIRTs. Unless she does so, > information systems in Africa will be an attractive choice for all the > hackers in the world, because they will know they can use them and abuse > them without any risk of being discovered. ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
