By Sellah Singini

Lilongwe 30 October, Mana: Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has launched Cyber Security Awareness Month, aimed at enhancing public understanding awareness of cyber security issues.

The launch took place at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Wednesday and will run throughout the month of November with a series of events such as public outreach campaigns to educate and empower citizens on safe online practices.

Speaking during the launch, MACRA’s Board Director Malla Kawale said cyber security has become a critical concern in the digital age, as more Malawians engage with technology in their daily lives.

She said, the rise of internet use presents both opportunities and challenges and therefore it is necessary for individuals, businesses and organizations to understand how to protect themselves from cyber threats.

“As MACRA, we would like to emphasize the importance of this initiative. As we embrace the digital revolution, we must equip our citizens with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the online landscape safely,

Cyber security is a shared responsibility and through awareness and education, we can foster a safer digital environment for all Malawians. We therefore encourage all citizens, businesses and organizations to participate actively in cyber security awareness month,” Kawale said.

MACRA’s Consumer Affairs Officer Brave Kaira said 27000 cases of mobile money fraud worth 180 million kwacha have been reported from January to August this year.

He said, 90 percent of the mobile money fraud cases emanate from prisons, especially Zomba Maximum Prison.

Kaira also said it is very important to empower consumers and mobile money agents in order to reduce the number of fraud cases.

“This is the reason the money fraud invasion task force was set up as one of the initiatives to combat mobile money fraud,” he said.

He added that MACRA is hoping to introduce National Identity cards from the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to be the one single source of truth and should be linked to biometric data in order to avoid cases of people registering SIM cards using other people’s National IDs.