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Mr. Kawago is the founder and Chief Technical Officer of WAGA, a company which produces solar lamps, power banks and mini-power walls, to help rural dwellers access off-grid clean and affordable energy for lighting and power solutions, and urban dwellers to cope with power cuts.

Currently, Mr. Kawago is working with Tanzanian radio station Wasafi FM, educating over 13 million people on solving digital problems and raising awareness of new technologies.

He spoke to UN News during the 2023 ECOSOC Youth Forum, which took place at the end of April.

Gibson Kawago, a member of UN Young Leaders class of 2022 from Tanzania standing in his workshop where he makes battery powered products from recycled lithium-ion batteries

Because there was no electricity in my village when I was growing up, those with mobile phones couldnt charge them when the battery ran out. So, I would bring five to 10 phones with me on a bicycle, and travel around thirty miles to the nearest town with power.

But sometimes it would take two days to recharge the phones, because there was a queue. This made it very hard for people to communicate with the outside world, but we had no choice.

This made want to find solutions to this problem, of living in a community that was not connected to the electricity grid. Thats why I set up Waga, but we work together with NGOs and the government to solve the problem together.

Gibson Kawago, Young Leader for the SDGs

I decided to get involved with Wasafi FM because radio is powerful. You can listen on the public transport, at home or on your mobile phone. And nowadays we can live stream online.

At the moment, I have a daily five-minute segment, where I share information about the latest trends in technology. I talk about things like internet security, explaining how young people can make their social media accounts more secure, because a lot of them dont know how to do this. I also teach them about phishing attacks, and how to protect themselves from hackers who will try to steal their accounts.

So, I educate them on how they can secure their accounts, but also I to get them on new technologies. There are so many technologies that me as gives them I have access to and have knowledge about. But those people living in rural places who listen to radios can't access the internet.

We often look to the bosses of big companies to change things, but we can also make a difference. At WAGA, we are also trying to help people to fight climate change in Tanzania with our e-mobility solutions. We make powerpacks, for example, that can turn regular motorbikes into electric bikes. But first we need to change peoples mindsets. They need to understand why its important to use electric bikes and, for that to happen, they need to be educated.

Young people have a lot of potential to change the world. And, as we have seen at the Youth Forum, although we come from many different backgrounds, we are united in our common aim, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The world makes a road for those who know where they are going. And we know where we are going.

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Phishing Protection in Anti-Virus Products and Browsers: New AV-Comparatives Results Revealed

AV-Comparatives Announces Latest Anti-Phishing Test Results: McAfee, Trend Micro, Bitdefender and Avast with highest protection

Read the full report here: https://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/gen_phishing_04-2023.pdf

AV-Comparatives conducted the test using up-to-date products that were tested in parallel and with active internet/cloud access on Windows 10. The antivirus products tested included Avast Free Antivirus, Avira Free Security, Bitdefender Internet Security, ESET Internet Security, Kaspersky Standard, Malwarebytes Premium, McAfee Total Protection, Microsoft Defender, and Norton 360 Deluxe. The browsers tested were Avast Secure Browser, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.

The test used 250 valid phishing URLs, and the number of clean URLs for false alarm detection was also 250. The results showed that McAfee Total Protection, Trend Micro Internet Security, Bitdefender Internet Security, and Avast Free Antivirus had the highest block rate at 95 to 97%. Microsoft Defender with Chrome Plugin had a block rate of 77%, while Malwarebytes Premium had a block rate of only 57%. In terms of false alarms, Avira Free Security had the most with 3, while McAfee Total Protection and Norton 360 Deluxe each had 2.

It is worth noting that anti-phishing protection is crucial for all operating systems and IoT devices. Cybercriminals can use phishing attacks to steal personal and financial information, install malware, and cause other types of damage. By using effective anti-phishing protection, users can reduce their risk of falling victim to these types of attacks.

AV-Comparatives will continue to conduct tests to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-phishing protection and other cybersecurity solutions. Users can use these test results to make informed decisions about which products to use to protect themselves from cyber threats.

About AV-Comparatives AV-Comparatives is an independent testing lab that evaluates and rates anti-virus software, internet security suites, and other cybersecurity products based on their performance, protection, and usability. The organisation is ISO certified and recognised as a reliable and independent source of information by end users, consumers, and the cybersecurity industry as a whole.

For more information, visit https://www.av-comparatives.org

Disclaimer: Gen Digital supported the test. The selection of products was done independently by AV-Comparatives, and all vendors were treated equally. Neither Gen Digital nor any other tested vendor was pre-informed about the test date or given any further insights, in order to eliminate any potential advantage, influence or bias. AV-Comparatives is ISO-certified for the scope of "Independent Tests of Anti-Virus Software".

Peter StelzhammerAV-Comparatives+43 512 287788media@av-comparatives.orgVisit us on social media:FacebookTwitterLinkedIn

Phishing Protection in Anti-Virus Products and Browsers: New AV-Comparatives Results Revealed

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Background

On March 2, 2023, the Biden administration released the new National Cybersecurity Strategy, replacing the 2018 Trump administration Cybersecurity Strategy. The new strategy builds on the previous one, continuing the momentum on many of its priorities while seeking to carry forward and evolve many of the strategic efforts originally initiated by the 2008 Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative.

Dividing the strategy into five pillars, the Biden administration focuses on defending critical infrastructure, disrupting and dismantling threat actors, shaping market forces to drive security and resilience, investing in a resilient future, and forging international partnerships to pursue shared goals.

The new strategy underlines two fundamental shifts: rebalancing the responsibility to defend cyberspace and realigning incentives to favor long-term investments. It takes a fresh look at the balance between the government and the private sector in terms of roles and responsibilities toward mitigating cyber risks. It recognizes the present realities where the end users bear a disproportionate burden for reducing such risks and, in an ambitious outlook change, seeks a legislative mechanism to enforce liability on providers when they fail to meet basic security standards. While underlining the governments role to protect its own systems and engage in diplomacy, law enforcement, and the collection of intelligence, the strategy places an emphasis on the need for private entities to protect their systems.

The Biden administration's strategy highlights the need to make substantial public sector investments in the sector to assure that the U.S. continues to stay ahead of the curve in modern technology and innovation, maintaining its global leadership role. For this, the Biden administration deems it necessary to incentivize decision-making while balancing short-term imperatives against a long-term vision.

An Overview of the Priorities in Five Pillars

1.Defend Critical Infrastructure

2.Disrupt and Dismantle Threat Actors

3. Shape Market Forces to Drive Security and Resilience

4.Invest in a Resilient Future

5.Forge International Partnerships to Pursue Shared Goals

Decoding the Strategy: What Does it All Mean?

Focus on Public-Private Cooperation

The strategy underlines that the industry and government must drive effective and equitable collaboration to correct market failures, minimize the harm from cyber incidents to society's most vulnerable members, and defend the shared digital ecosystem. It appreciates the commitments made by private sector entities to engage in collaborative defense efforts like the "Shields Up" campaign, which preceded the beginning of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, to proactively increase preparedness and promote effective measures to combat malicious activity.

The strategy encourages private sector partners to come together and organize efforts through one or more non-profit organizations that can serve as hubs for operational collaboration with the federal government.

This collaborative approach is of great interest to countries worldwide struggling to evolve a robust mechanism for policy inputs. Those working to craft a national cybersecurity strategy can benefit from policy inputs from non-profits through a structural and institutionalized framework. As countries look to decide whether or not to adopt strict data localization policies, factors like the identification of gaps in authorities to drive better cybersecurity practices in the cloud computing industry and other third-party services will be of great value. This is where expanded collaboration can play an important role.

Focus on Investments

Assuring the continued U.S. leadership in technology and innovation, the new strategy reemphasizes that a resilient and flourishing digital future tomorrow begins with investments made today. Toward this goal, it states that the federal government must leverage strategic public investments in innovation, R&D, and education to drive outcomes that are economically sustainable and serve the national interest.

The Biden administration also seeks to support non-governmental standards developing organizations (SDOs) to partner with industry leaders, international allies, academic institutions, and professional societies to secure emerging technologies. In particular, it aims to secure three families of technologies: quantum computing and AI, biotechnology, and clean energy. This investment focus will likely resonate in countries engaged in developing their own technology and governance visions for the decade ahead.

Calling Out Adversaries

The new strategy puts the spotlight on the governments of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and other autocratic states with revisionist intentions that are aggressively using advanced cyber capabilities to pursue objectives that run counter to accepted international norms as well as against U.S. interests.

It calls out the Peoples Republic of China as the broadest, most active, and most persistent threat to government and private sector networks and the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so.

It highlights that Russia remains a persistent cyber threat, refining its cyber espionage, attack, influence, and disinformation capabilities to coerce sovereign countries; harboring transnational criminal actors; aiming to weaken U.S. alliances and partnerships; and subverting the rules-based international system. It further recognizes the growing sophistication and willingness of the governments of Iran and North Korea to carry out malicious activities in cyberspace. The new strategy highlights the immediate need to counter further advances in both countries capabilities, underlining in particular Irans use of its cyber capabilities to threaten U.S. allies in the Middle East, chief among them Israel and the Arab Gulf states, and both Iran and North Koreas exploitation of cyberspace and cryptocurrency platforms to generate revenues to help reduce fiscal deficits caused by severe Western sanctions.

In recent years, the U.S. has along with allies like the U.K. and Australia taken an active stance toward public and collective attribution of malicious activities in cyberspace. As it looks toward expanding partnerships, Washington can aim to bring closer countries like India that face similar threats, but do not yet have an attribution framework or a clearly defined policy.

Focus on Values and Foundations

The core theme of the new strategy is an ambition for the further values-driven development of the digital ecosystem. It stresses that the U.S. must seize the opportunity to instill its most cherished values, as embodied by the Declaration for the Future of the Internet (DFI) and the Freedom Online Coalition, in future cyberspace governance models.

Taking note of the inherently vulnerable nature of cyberspace, it emphasizes the need to make fundamental changes to the underlying dynamics of the digital ecosystem, shifting the advantage to its defenders and frustrating the forces that would threaten it.

Focus on Resilience

The strategy states that the Biden administration is committed to improving federal cybersecurity through long-term efforts to implement a zero-trust architecture strategy and modernize IT and OT infrastructure. In doing so, it hopes that the federal cybersecurity program can be a model for critical infrastructure across the U.S. for how to successfully build and operate secure and resilient systems.

Along with this, the Biden administration seeks to embark on a clean-up effort to reduce systemic risks and the most pressing security challenges, without disrupting the existing platforms and services. This includes the technical foundations of the digital ecosystem, which are inherently vulnerable.

Considering the long-standing pioneer position of the U.S. in terms of digital innovation and in shaping the contours of cyber policies, how the U.S. government aspires to re-envision, re-shape, and re-vitalize this ecosystem will be critical for all countries.

Focus on Offensive Approach for Deterrence

The strategy states that the U.S. will use all of its instruments of national power to disrupt and dismantle threat actors whose actions threaten its interests. These efforts may integrate diplomatic, information, military (both kinetic and cyber), financial, intelligence, and law enforcement capabilities.

It complements the Department of Defense's strategic approach, as laid out in the 2018 Cyber Strategy, of defending forward, stating that it has helped generate insights on threat actors, identify and expose malware, and disrupt malicious activity before it could affect its intended targets.

As active offense increasingly becomes the operational norm, countries worldwide might deem it necessary to refine and expand their capabilities. This could potentially lead to an accelerating arms race in the near future.

Focus on Threat Monitoring and Intelligence Sharing

The new strategy recognizes the need to increase the speed and scale of cyber threat intelligence sharing to proactively warn cyber defenders and notify victims when the government has information that an organization is being actively targeted or may already be compromised. It affirms that the federal government will work with cloud and other internet infrastructure providers to quickly identify malicious use of U.S.-based infrastructure, share reports of malicious use with the government, make it easier for victims to report abuse of these systems, and make it more difficult for malicious actors to gain access to these resources in the first place.

Focus on Ransomware

Acknowledging ransomware's impact on key critical infrastructure services, the new strategy states that the U.S. will employ all elements of national power to counter the threat by leveraging international cooperation to disrupt the ransomware ecosystem, investigating crimes to disrupt infrastructure and actors, bolstering critical infrastructure resilience to withstand attacks, and addressing the abuse of virtual currency to launder ransom payments.

It highlights that the White House has convened the Counter-Ransomware Initiative (CRI) with participation from more than 30 countries.

Focus on Legislative Reform and Regulations

Underscoring that regulation can level the playing field and enable healthy competition without sacrificing cybersecurity or operational resilience, the Biden administration deems it vital that the new and updated cybersecurity regulations be calibrated to meet the needs of national security and public safety, harmonized to reduce duplication, complementary to public-private collaboration, and cognizant of the cost of implementation.

The strategy states that regulations should be performance-based, leverage existing cybersecurity frameworks and international standards in a manner consistent with current policy and law, and when necessary, pursue cross-border regulatory harmonization to prevent cybersecurity requirements from impeding digital trade flows.

The administration supports legislative efforts to impose robust, clear limits on the ability to collect, use, transfer, and maintain personal data and aims to work with Congress and the private sector to develop legislation that establishes liability for software products and services.

With an increasing number of high-impact ransomware and other cyberattacks in recent years, cyber insurance has become a critical focus around the world. As private insurers continue to recalibrate their strategies to avoid overexposure to risk in cases of catastrophic mass-scale cyber events, there are growing calls for a greater federal role, including in the provision of insurance, in response to such events. The new strategy states that the federal government could be called upon to stabilize the economy and facilitate recovery and that the administration will assess possible federal insurance structures to support the cyber insurance market.

Focus on Capacity Building

The strategy highlights the hundreds and thousands of unfilled vacancies in cybersecurity positions nationwide and resolves to develop a national strategy to strengthen the U.S. cyber workforce. Recognizing that recruiting and training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals will require federal leadership, the document lays out plans to develop a National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy to take a comprehensive and coordinated approach to expanding the national cyber workforce, improving its diversity, and increasing access to cyber educational and training pathways.

Establishing an effective cybersecurity workforce has been a thorn in the side of almost every country in the world. Standing as the lone cyber superpower, how the U.S. tackles this challenge will remain of great interest to all others.

Focus on International Partnerships

As the world watches the accelerating tech decoupling between the West and China, the focus on international partnerships is bound to take on increasing significance.

Aiming to rejuvenate U.S. cyber diplomacy on international platforms, the new strategy reinforces the applicability of existing international law and calls for upholding globally accepted voluntary norms of responsible state behavior during peacetime in cyberspace. It reaffirms the focus on securing global supply chains and commits to building on the National Strategy to Secure 5G in collaboration with partners around the globe. This underlines the U.S. commitment to international partnerships on cyber issues, emphasizing the importance of working with allies and partners to build a defensible, resilient, and values-aligned digital ecosystem. The strategy highlights that, through multilateral mechanisms like the Quad, AUKUS, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, and the Americas Partnership for Prosperity, the U.S. and its international allies and partners are advancing shared goals for cyberspace.

Taking note of the supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, the new strategy aims to secure global supply chains for ICT and OT products and services. Considering the emerging tech war and decoupling between China on the one hand and the West and many of its partners on the other, the new strategy mentions that the U.S. is partnering with allies to develop trustworthy and reliable supply chains for 5G and other critical technologies.

Data-Driven Implementation

The new strategy states that the U.S. is laying the foundations for real-time global collaboration by leveraging vast amounts of data and computing power that will unlock scientific discoveries. The federal government will take a data-driven approach toward the implementation of the new strategy and will measure investments made, progress toward implementation, ultimate outcomes, and the effectiveness of these efforts.

Opportunities for Partners and Allies in the Middle East

The U.S. cybersecurity strategy provides a framework for Washington to collaborate with its Middle Eastern partners in sharing threat intelligence and other critical information with the aim of identifying and addressing potential cyber attacks before they occur. Additionally, the U.S. can help build up its Middle Eastern partners' cyber capabilities through training and technical assistance, including establishing cyber defense teams, improving network security, and sharing cybersecurity best practices. In an even more advanced level of cyber cooperation, regional partners and the United States could jointly conduct cyber exercises to enhance their capabilities and coordination in responding to cyber attacks from malicious actors. The U.S. could also work closely with regional partners to develop norms of behavior for cyberspace, promote regional cooperation on cybersecurity, and address the malicious use of cyber tools.

Conclusion

The National Cybersecurity Strategy 2023 should be recognized as the product of U.S. ambitions to continue to shape the future of global cyberspace, which is highly dependent on U.S. infrastructure. The highlighted themes and objectives are consistent with how Washington is navigating the global technological decoupling and will surely support the U.S.s economic resilience and cybersecurity in an age of multipolar global disorder. As recognized in the strategy, national cybersecurity cannot be future-proofed, and the governments response to current threats and those not yet conceived will rely on the ability of government agencies, regulators, the private sector, and users to collaborate on the Biden administrations approach.

In looking forward, implementation will be a key concern for this strategy and its impact on tech manufacturers, service providers, and users. The successful implementation of this strategy will dictate the security and resilience of U.S. cyberspace and also shape broader dynamics, as allies look to follow suit and adversaries look to use cyber tools to threaten U.S. security. The potential for the strategy to result in inclusive regulation will depend on how quickly and effectively lawmakers and the private sector can align on the tenets of the Biden administrations approach. Considering the diversity of ways in which private sector entities are relevant to the strategy and its proposed policy approaches, this could be simple in some areas but remain complex in most.

Divyanshu Jindal is a Non-Resident Scholar with MEIs Strategic Technologies and Cyber Security Program and a Research Associate at NatStrat, India. His work focuses on the geopolitics of tech and cyber and Indias cyber diplomacy.

Mohammed Soliman is the director of MEIs Strategic Technologies and Cyber Security Program, and a Manager at McLarty Associates MENA Practice. His work focuses on the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and business in emerging markets.

Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click here.

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Internet technology in Pakistan has grown rapidly creating a digital revolution. As a result, the social and economic growth of the country has also greatly improved. But unfortunately, it has also made the country vulnerable to new threats, specifically, when it comes to cybersecurity. Lately, cyber-attacks have become more rampant, costly, and sophisticated. It does not only affect individuals but government institutions and businesses as well. Here, we are going to explore cybersecurity in Pakistan including the challenges and improvements that need to be done.

The digital economy in Pakistan is continuously expanding. In fact, there are over 100 million internet users in the country. At the same time, the number of e-commerce businesses has also grown. Pakistan has a sluggish approach toward cybersecurity and social media and recently, there is an increase in cybersecurity incidents. In fact, in 2020 alone, there was a 300 percent increase in cyber-attacks.

Is cyber security important to Pakistan?, Unfortunately, Pakistans cybersecurity is facing a lot of challenges due to several factors. One of its major challenges is the peoples lack of understanding about cybersecurity. Most internet users in the country are not implementing cybersecurity measures, such as keeping their software and applications up to date, using strong passwords, or using VPNs. There are a lot of VPNs out there but unveiling ExpressVPNs security and speed keeps you protected.

The lack of resources and expertise is also another challenge in Pakistans cybersecurity. Most organizations do not have sufficient funds, making them unable to invest in expertise and cybersecurity infrastructure. Due to this lack of resources, these organizations became exposed to cyber threats since they cant protect themselves against these attacks.

Another crucial challenge is the absence of cybersecurity laws and regulations in the country. Currently, the laws and regulations in Pakistan do not provide substantial protection against cyber threats. As a result, individuals and businesses have become more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

Despite having a lot of challenges in the cybersecurity infrastructure of Pakistan, there is still a lot of room for improvement. For instance, increasing awareness about cybersecurity among the general public. This can be accomplished by launching education and training programs so that the people will know what are the basic cybersecurity measures and how they can protect themselves against cyber attacks.

Another way is to encourage businesses to invest funds for expertise and cybersecurity infrastructure. This can help in protecting your business against financial damage caused by cyber-attacks. It can also make your company competitive and reputable, as a result, customers will be impressed since you are taking cybersecurity seriously.

One of the major concerns of individuals, businesses, and the government of Pakistan is their cybersecurity infrastructure. This is because cyber-attacks can likely lead to serious financial damage. At the same time, it can also greatly affect the reputation of the company. Unfortunately, the current cybersecurity infrastructure of the country is not sufficient enough to address the increasing cyber threats. However, there are ways that this can be improved such as investing in expertise and cybersecurity infrastructure, extending awareness, and most of all strengthening laws and regulations. By accomplishing these necessary steps, Pakistan can enjoy a safer and more secure digital environment.

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