As part of the Africa Cyber Defense Forum (ACDF), Kaspersky has opened its first Transparency Centre in the African region.
The new centre, located in Kigali, Rwanda, is opening as part of Kaspersky’s Global Transparency Initiative, established to highlight the reliability of the company’s solutions and advocate for greater transparency throughout the cybersecurity industry.
The new centre offers its visitors a comprehensive overview of Kaspersky’s engineering and data processing practices, and a live demonstration of the source code for its products and services.
Internet penetration in the African region has been steadily increasing over the years: according to the World Bank, broadband Internet access in Africa grew from 26% in 2019 to 36% in 2022. As outlined in the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy, all people in Africa should be digitally empowered by 2030, which means that digitalisation will be enhancing, bringing both opportunities and challenges.
The new Transparency Centre in Kigali is available for Kaspersky’s partners, customers, and regulators responsible for cybersecurity. It is designed to serve the “blue piste” review option, which has gained significant popularity among Transparency Centres’ visitors since the opening of the first facility in 2018.
It offers a general overview of Kaspersky’s engineering and data processing practices: throughout their visit, partners and customers are welcome to ask Kaspersky experts any questions related to the company’s data processing procedures and the functioning of its solutions.
Additionally, as part of the “blue piste,” they can improve or acquire skills to assess the security of ICT products that their organisations use, learning the highlights of Kaspersky’s Cyber Capacity Building Program for government organisations, academia and companies.
Underscoring the strong nexus between transparency and the fight against cybercrime, and Kaspersky’s commitment to both causes, the new Transparency Centre opening was welcomed by the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (Afripol).
“The African region is currently undergoing rapid digital transformation, with Internet penetration continually growing year on year,” says Afripol’s acting executive director, Ambassador Jalel Chelba. “To counter potential security risks stemming from the use of technology, it is imperative to understand what forms an effective framework to mitigate risks.
“Today, as Kaspersky announces the opening of its first Transparency Center in the African region, we appreciate the company’s openness and welcome its Global Transparency Initiative, which is exemplary for organisations in the region in terms of building digital trust. Kaspersky has a proven track record of collaborating with local, regional and international law enforcement agencies to combat cybercrime, sharing its technical expertise, in the spirit of transparency.”
With the opening of the facility in the region, Kaspersky will expand its network to encompass a total of 11 Transparency Centres located across Europe, Asia-Pacific, North and Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.