Nairobi, Feb 12 (IANS): Kenya pledged to partner with foreign and local telecommunications companies to reduce cyber threats in the country.

William Kabogo Gitau, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Digital Economy, on Tuesday, said every business that interacts with consumers online has a responsibility to ensure their customers know how to protect themselves.

"We require a concerted effort by stakeholders and service providers to arm Kenyans with the knowledge and information they require to identify online fraud and how to report users and numbers engaged in such activities," Gitau said in a speech read on his behalf by Principal Secretary Edward Kisiang'ani.

Kisiang'ani spoke at a forum held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to mark Safer Internet Day which falls on February 11, a global occasion dedicated to promoting a safer digital experience for everyone, especially children.

David Mugonyi, director general of the Communications Authority of Kenya, said the country is ranked by the International Telecommunication Union as a tier one country in the Global Cybersecurity Index, which measures the commitment of a country to cybersecurity.

Mugonyi said the National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team-Coordination Center (National KE-CIRT/CC), which gives the country the ability to detect and deal with harmful or fraudulent activities, also facilitates collaboration and coordination with local and international telecommunications companies to eliminate cyber threats, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Mugonyi, in the last financial year, the National KE-CIRT detected 3.5 billion cyber threats targeting Kenya's cyberspace, while in the past six months alone, 1.5 billion such threats were detected.

A cyber or cybersecurity threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data, or disrupt digital life in general. Cyber threats include computer viruses, data breaches, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and other attack vectors.

Cyber threats also refer to the possibility of a successful cyber attack that aims to gain unauthorised access, damage, disrupt, or steal an information technology asset, computer network, intellectual property, or any other form of sensitive data. Cyber threats can come from within an organisation by trusted users or from remote locations by unknown parties.