Safaricom Hosts Cybersecurity Summit Amid Rising AI-Enabled Threats
By Kass Digital | NAIROBI,
Safaricom has hosted its fourth annual Cybersecurity Summit, bringing together leaders from Kenya’s digital ecosystem to explore ways of strengthening the country’s cyber resilience amid rising AI-enabled threats.
Held in Nairobi on October 14, the summit focused on responsible artificial intelligence adoption and emerging threats, including deepfakes, AI-generated impersonation, automated scams and ransomware.
According to the Communications Authority of Kenya, the National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team – Coordination Centre detected 11.12 billion cyber threat events in the last financial year, a 29 per cent increase from 8.62 billion recorded in the previous year. This highlights the growing need for stronger cybersecurity measures to protect businesses and digital services.
Safaricom Group CEO Peter Ndegwa said AI’s opportunities must be matched by stronger safeguards and trust built into digital services from the outset.
“AI is expanding what is possible for businesses and society, but that opportunity must be built on trust,” said Ndegwa. “Cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a technical safeguard added after a service is developed. It must be embedded from the start and strengthened through shared standards, responsible innovation and collaboration across sectors. That is how we ensure digital progress remains safe, inclusive and worthy of our customers’ confidence.”
The summit also explored AI-enabled threat detection, incident response, ransomware preparedness and ways to address the cybersecurity skills gap, with participants stressing the importance of stronger security systems, staff training and collaboration to tackle emerging digital threats.
Safaricom reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening digital security, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which account for about 70 per cent of Kenya’s GDP. The company said the initiative aims to help businesses adopt digital technologies safely, protect customer information and recover quickly from cyberattacks.
