FOURTH PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON SHAPING THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE TRIPLE CHALLENGE OF CYBER-SECURITY: INFORMATION, CITIZENS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

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1 FOURTH PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON SHAPING THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE TRIPLE CHALLENGE OF CYBER-SECURITY: INFORMATION, CITIZENS AND INFRASTRUCTURE THE ZAMBIAN PARLIAMENT EXPERIENCE May 2011,Room II ILO Conference Center International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland MICHAEL MUKUKA PRINCIPAL CLERK ICT ZAMBIAN PARLIAMENT

2 BACKGROUND Parliamentary Reforms and use of ICTs in meeting the reforms agenda posses a new challenge of security of information, people and infrastructure Parliamentary engagement in the new information age. The need to appreciate the new operating environment and speeding up our response to the challenge The challenge of MPs capacity to adequately deal with the Cyber security issues The wait-and and-see approach in dealing with challenges such as Cyber-Security

3 THE ZAMBIAN RESPONSE TO CYBER- SECURITY AN OVERVIEW Evolvement of Legislation dealing with Cyber-Security issues: The Telecommunications Act 1994 Radio Communication Act Computer Misuse and Crimes Act Electronic Communications and Transactions Act Establishment of statutory bodies: The Zambia Police Service Cyber Crimes Bureau The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) 2009 Act National Work Group on Cyber-Security (NWGC)

4 ZICTA AND THE NWGC INIATIVE NWGC was conceived after the international conference organised by ITU, COMESA and CAZ in 2008 Multi-sectoral approach involving government agencies, non-governmental organisations and private sector Interim structure to provide a national strategic approach towards Cyber-Security Development of the National Cyber-Security Draft being considered by the Ministry of Communications and Transport

5 PARLIAMENTARY ENGAGEMENT THE COMPUTER MISUSE AND CRIMES ACT Very basic law with a lot gaps No mention of Cyber Crime Protection of personal information was non existent Slow adoption of e-commerce e in the country Could not easily be used to deal with a number of emerging challenges the Information Society is currently facing A handful of stakeholders participated

6 PARLIAMENTARY ENGAGEMENT THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSACTIONS ACT Brings out a number of pertinent issues not covered in the Computer Misuse and Crimes Act of 2004 Legal requirement for data messages Communications of data messages. Spam is a crime. Consumer protection and protection of personal information Domain name regulations Cyber Crime and Cyber Inspection Encrypting Communications Comprehensive consultations with stakeholders and Interest Groups

7 PARLIAMENTARY ENGAGEMENT THE PARLIAMENTARY INFORMATION SYSTEMS OPERATIONS POLICY (PISOP) Parliaments need to show the way by taking the lead. Putting our House in order! Ensuring secure ICT infrastructure Ensuring the Integrity, Authenticity and reliability of information and data so as to protect the image of Parliament Ensuring that Members and Staff of Parliament are protected from being victims of Cyber Crime and are discouraged from being lured into using parliamentary infrastructure to undertake undesirable activities To ensure that Member Constituent engagement is done orderly and in a secure environment

8 PARLIAMENTARY ENGAGEMENT - CHALLENGES Oversight Limited or inadequate knowledge by Parliamentarians Lack of appropriate structure with focused approach Representative and Advocacy Inability to follow-up issues on cyber security due to inadequate knowledge and appropriate structure. MPs can play a critical role of advocacy and sensitisation in dealing with Cyber security Parliamentarians as change agents Legislative Inadequate laws are made which leave gaps and hence not very helpful in protecting the information asset, the public and the infrastructure this is common in most developing countries

9 STRENGTHENING AND SPEEDING UP PARLIAMENTARY RESPONSE Inter-parliamentary cooperation and collaboration Regional and Global groupings Use of existing initiatives Organisational (Committee systems) National (Regulators) Regional (SADC PF) Global Initiatives (Global Centre)

10 CONCLUSION The need for pro-active parliamentary involvement in the area of Cyber-Security cannot be underscored. Institutions of Parliaments need to realise the importance of focused approach by forming structures and building the capacity of its members to better deal with Cyber-Security Security.

11 THANK YOU!!!