Category: Sci & Tech

Why WhatsApp Will Never Be Secure

The world seems to be shocked by the news that WhatsApp turned any phone into spyware. Everything on your phone – including photos, emails and texts – could be accessed by attackers just because you had WhatsApp installed [1].

This news didn’t surprise me, though. Last year WhatsApp had to admit they had a very similar issue – a single video call via WhatsApp was all a hacker needed to get access to all of your phone’s data [2].

Every time WhatsApp has to fix a critical vulnerability in their app, a new one seems to take its place. All of their security issues are conveniently suitable for surveillance, look and work a lot like backdoors.

Unlike Telegram, WhatsApp is not open source, so there’s no way for security researchers to easily check whether there are backdoors in its code. Not only does WhatsApp not publish its code, they do the exact opposite: WhatsApp deliberately obfuscates their apps’ binaries to make sure no one is able to study them thoroughly.

WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook may even be required to implement backdoors – via secret processes such as FBI gag orders [3]. It’s not easy to run a secure communication app from the US. A single week our team spent in the US in 2016 got us three infiltration attempts by the FBI [4][5]. Imagine what 10 years in that environment can do to a US-based company.

Security agencies use anti-terror efforts to justify planting backdoors. The problem is that such backdoors can also be used by criminals and authoritarian governments. No wonder dictators seem to love WhatsApp: its lack of security allows them to spy on their own people, so WhatsApp continues to be freely available in places like Russia or Iran, where Telegram is banned by the authorities [6].

As a matter of fact, I started working on Telegram as a direct response to personal pressure from the Russian authorities. Back then, in 2012, WhatsApp was still transferring messages in plaintext. That was insane. Not just governments or hackers, but mobile providers and WiFi admins had access to all WhatsApp texts [7][8].

Later WhatsApp added some encryption, which quickly turned out to be a marketing ploy: The key to decrypt messages was available to at least several governments, including the Russians [9]. Then, as Telegram started to gain popularity, WhatsApp founders sold their company to Facebook and declared that “Privacy was in their DNA” [10]. If true, it must have been a dormant or recessive gene.

3 years ago WhatsApp announced they implemented end-to-end encryption so that “no third party can access messages”. This coincided with an aggressive push for all of its users to back up their chats in the cloud. When making this push, WhatsApp didn’t tell its users that when backed up, messages are no longer protected by end-to-end encryption and can be accessed by hackers and law enforcement [11]. Brilliant marketing, and some naive people are serving their time in jail as a result [12].

WhatsApp users resilient enough not to fall for constant popups telling them to back up their chats can still be traced by a number of other tricks – from accessing their contacts’ backups to invisible encryption key changes [13]. The metadata generated by WhatsApp users – logs describing who chats with whom and when – is leaked to all kinds of agencies in large volumes by WhatsApp’s parent company [14].

WhatsApp has a consistent history – from zero encryption at its inception to a succession of security issues strangely suitable for surveillance purposes. Looking back, there hasn’t been a single day in WhatsApp’s 10-year journey when this service was secure. That’s why I don’t think that just updating WhatsApp’s mobile app will make it secure for anyone. For WhatsApp to become a privacy-oriented service, it has to risk losing entire markets and clashing with authorities in its home country. They don’t seem to be ready for that [15].

Last year, the founders of WhatsApp left the company due to concerns over users’ privacy [16]. They are surely tied by either gag orders or NDAs, so are unable to discuss backdoors publicly without risking their fortunes and freedom. They were able to admit, however, that “they sold their users’ privacy” [17].

I can understand the reluctance of WhatsApp founders to provide more detail – it’s not easy to put your comfort at risk. Several years ago I had to leave my country after refusing to comply with government-sanctioned privacy breaches of VK users [18]. It was not pleasant. But would I do something like this again? Gladly. Every one of us is going to die eventually, but we as a species will stick around for a while. That’s why I think accumulating money, fame or power is irrelevant. Serving humanity is the only thing that really matters in the long run.

And yet, despite our intentions, I feel we let humanity down in this whole WhatsApp spyware affair. A lot of people can’t stop using WhatsApp, because their friends and family are still on it. This means we at Telegram have done a bad job of persuading people to switch over. While we have attracted hundreds of millions of users in the last five years, this wasn’t enough. The majority of internet users are still held hostage by the Facebook/WhatsApp/Instagram empire. Many of those who use Telegram are also on WhatsApp, meaning their phones are still vulnerable. Even those who have ditched WhatsApp completely are probably still using Facebook or Instagram, both of which think it’s OK to store your passwords in plaintext [19][20] (I still can’t believe a tech company could do something like this and get away with it).

In its almost 6 years of existence, Telegram has had no major data leaks or security flaws of the kind WhatsApp demonstrates every few months. In the same 6 years, we have disclosed exactly zero bytes of data to third parties, while Facebook/WhatsApp has been sharing pretty much everything with everybody who claimed they worked for a government [13].

Few people outside the Telegram fancommunity realize that most of the new features in messaging appear on Telegram first, and are then carbon-copied by WhatsApp down to the tiniest details. More recently we are witnessing the attempt by Facebook to borrow Telegram’s entire philosophy, with Zuckerberg suddenly declaring the importance of privacy and speed, practically citing Telegram’s app description word for word in his F8 speech.

But whining about Facebook’s hypocrisy and lack of creativity won’t help. We have to admit Facebook is executing an efficient strategy. Look what they did to Snapchat [21].

We at Telegram have to acknowledge our responsibility in forming the future. It’s either us or the Facebook monopoly. It’s either freedom and privacy or greed and hypocrisy. Our team has been competing with Facebook for the last 13 years. We already beat them once, in the Eastern European social networking market [22]. We will beat them again in the global messaging market. We have to.

It won’t be easy. The Facebook marketing department is huge. We at Telegram, however, do zero marketing. We don’t want to pay journalists and researchers to tell the world about Telegram. For that, we rely on you – the millions of our users. If you like Telegram enough, you will tell your friends about it. And if every Telegram user persuades 3 of their friends to delete WhatsApp and permanently move to Telegram, Telegram will already be more popular than WhatsApp.

It is much closer than it seems.

Written by: Pavel Durov, Telegram Founder.

May 26, 2019
Top Fifty Useful Sites You Currently Need

A sample of fantastic sites you need in 2019. Search this on your favorite search engines.

Top 10 Sites to learn Microsoft Excel for free.

1. Microsoft Excel Help Center
2. Excel Exposure
3. Chandoo
4. Excel Central
5. Contextures
6. Excel Hero
7. Mr. Excel
8. Improve Your Excel
9. Excel Easy
10. Excel Jet

Top 10 Sites for your career:

1. LinkedIN
2. Indeed
3. Careerealism
4. Job-Hunt
5. JobBait
6. Careercloud
7. GM4JH
8. Personalbrandingblog
9. Jibberjobber
10. Neighbors-helping-neighbors

Top 10 Sites to review your resume for free:

1. Zety Resume Builder
2. Resumonk
3. https://t.co/h1BWIRqFVJ
4. VisualCV
5. Cvmaker
6. ResumUP
7. Resume Genius
8. Resumebuilder
9. Resume Baking
10. Enhancv

Top 10 Tech Skills in demand in 2019:

1. Machine Learning
2. Mobile Development
3. SEO/SEM Marketing
4. Data Visualization
5. Data Engineering
6. UI/UX Design
7. Cyber-security
8. Cloud Computing/AWS
9. Blockchain
10. IOT

Top 10 Sites for Free Online Education:

1. Coursera
2. edX
3. Khan Academy
4. Udemy
5. iTunesU Free Courses
6. MIT OpenCourseWare
7. Stanford Online
8. Codecademy
9. Open Culture Online Courses
10. TED-Ed

May 11, 2019
Medical Research: Nairobi Has Dirty And Germs Filled Money

Scientists have tested money and phones from 395 food handlers in 15 different types of outlets in Nairobi County and confirmed the two items to be highly-tainted with disease-causing germs.

The researchers collected money from the food handlers in every denomination of the Kenya’s currency.

The money underwent through a thorough test for eight types of Disease Causing Organisms.

All of the tests confirmed positive of the DCOs. Of these, 20 per cent were food-borne pathogens.

The Sh 50 and Sh 20 denominations were the most tainted. Researchers believe that it’s because they have a possible wide supply and circulation. With Sh 1, 5 and 1000 being the least contaminated.

Staphylococcus species of germs that have been medically proven to cause skin, heart and bone infections, food poisoning and pneumonia were mostly present to all the denominations.

Bacillus species of pathogens were also present. The pathologist say these may cause food poisoning, shock, meningitis and blood poisoning.

E coli was also present on coins. The contaminant is usually from human Feaces. The contaminant is the root cause of most of urinary tract infections.

Phones were also tested and confirmed to be contaminated with 12 types of pathogens.

Staphylococcus,E coli, Pseudomonus and Klebsiella species were the most common.

The study reports that over 60% of people don’t wash their hands and an equivalent of 34% had no knowledge of food handling.

SEE ALSO :Sonko Gives Relationship Advice As He Celebrates His Wife From The Shreds

This is has been recorded as the the second time KEMRI is warning Kenyans over the health risks of handling money and foods.

Cryptosporidium parasites were also present on the coins. These parasites causes serious diarrhoea in children.

Independent medical researchers have refuted KEMRIs studies saying the germs present on coins and notes are less harmful.

While KEMRI says some types of parasites found on the coins, especially from butchers are contaminated with Zonootics.

This disease can be transmitted from animals to human.

May 10, 2019
Doctors At Kenyatta Hospital Successfully Replants A Boy’s Penis After It Was Chopped Off

On the 18th of December at around 1am, a 16 year old boy only identified as EM by the doctors for his privacy, was attacked by unknown persons and his manhood completely chopped off using a kitchen knife at its base.

Eight hours later, the form three student was brought to KNH with her mum where after review by disciplined team of plastic surgeons and urologists, he was admitted and scheduled for the landmark surgery.

Special team Of surgeons led by Prof Khainga, Dr. Ferdinand Nangole, Senior Lecturer UoN Microvascular surgeon, Dr. Ajujo Plastic Surgeon, Dr.Were(plastic surgeon). Prof Khainga and Dr L. Ajujo both operate a private plastic surgery clinic in Kilimani; Surgeoderm.

Dr. Mutie Thomas, KNH’s CEO has applauded the team calling them a master team and stamping confidence that KNH holds the facilities and experts to perform such a like complicated surgery.

In another incident last year in February, a team of 15 surgeons under Prof Khainga, anesthetists and nurses at Kenyatta National Hospital successfully reattached the hand of a 17-year-old boy which was severed by a chaff cutter.

The young man, Joseph Theuri, accidentally chopped off his arm last month while cleaning the machine used for cutting straw for farm animals into smaller pieces.

There was also the successful separation of two year old conjoined twins at Kenyatta National Hospital which marked a medical milestone in Kenya. Other than South Africa, very few successful separations have been performed in sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya a multi-disciplinary team of medical experts operated on the twins for 23 uninterrupted hours.

The replantion Of the young man’s penis is also a landmark being one of it’s kind to be successfully done. Doctors have confirmed that he had responded well to the surgery and normal reproductive system upbeat.

January 30, 2019
US President Donald Trump Warns Twitter and Facebook Over Consistent Censorship Of Users.

President Donald Trump

“Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others.

Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!

Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all..”

Twitter has been on the limelight for Censorship and Suspension spree on users they believe to violate their Terms and Conditions which have been exaggerated to the extent of Daylight murder. The controllers ethics adherence is nothing but Impunity coating. It all began with shutting down of fake accounts–bots which majority with fake followers lost massive number, some by half a million.

Twitter founder Jack and Twitter support talks of their Terms and Conditions which doesn’t favour speaker of truth and an African revolutionist being an Uprising continent. Take an example, One of Kenya’s Influential Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi’s suspension from twitter was on the basis of consistent reports of complaints of his tweets because this is a figure who says it as it is without fear or favour. The fruit of his tackles are being enjoyed by all Kenyans of Goodwill. He had tackle Corporate fraudsters day in day out; Bob Collymore and his Safaricom fraud schemes have been downplayed, Swazuri- Ruaka Land scandal and SGR Compensation saga have led to his(Swazuri) arrest and fired from his NLC position, tremendous Corrupt Politicians have felt his wrath and which have led him be charged with Cyber bullying to some extent but have always won. The accomplishments are too many to mention. After his suspension from twitter, over 20,000 Kenyans on Twitter migrated to Gab where he is currently operating. Twitter ought to listen to or rather consider every voice; both of haters and funs. Every social media influencer has haters and funs at equal measures and the Ecosystem must accommodate all these people.

There are specific words that have been marked that when you include in your tweet might send you to suspension list: “Mbwa” “Malaya” “Sponyo” which were consistently Nyakundi’s thunderous sentiments. Personally i wouldn’t hesitate to use them in my sentiments for so many reasons because that’s the language perpetrators understand better. Taking the bull by the horn.

Specifically on Africa as an Uprising Continent, the liberation has not come about by Good Expression Ethics but tough and offending words to the oppressor because the system is not pampering and in return can’t be pampered. The minority voices are heard and some have been heard through these platforms in these manners and some have actually resulted to powerful changes favouring human kind and like Trump has said, too many mistakes are being made and let everybody participate whether good or bad.

August 18, 2018
Ezekiel Mutua, Nyakundi, Xtiandela Kenya’s Twitter Big Wigs Loses Big Numbers As Twitter Purges On Fake Followers

People are losing their followers on Twitter and it is getting to worse from bad as Twitter embarks on a clean up drive targeting dormant followers. As part of Twitter’ ongoing and global effort to build trust and encourage healthy conversation on Twitter. Follower counts are a visible feature, and Twitter want everyone to have confidence that the numbers are meaningful and accurate.

Over the years, Twitter has locked accounts when they detected sudden changes in account behavior. In these situations, they reach out to the owners of the accounts and unless they validate the account and reset their passwords, they were kept locked with no ability to log in. This week, Twitter will be removing such locked accounts from follower counts across profiles globally. As a result, the number of followers displayed on many profiles may go down.

Most people will see a change of four followers or fewer; others with larger follower counts will experience a more significant drop. Twitter say they do understand this may be hard for some, but believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation.

Though the most significant changes are happening in the next few days, follower counts may continue to change more regularly.

The general argument is the purge is aimed st not accounts but Twitter clarifies that’s not necessarily the case on the targeted locked accounts.

In most cases, these accounts were created by real people but Twitter cannot confirm that the original person who opened the account still has control and access to it and so they’ll be needed to confirm. The numbers are expected to vary again after some of the locked accounts will have verified their identity.

This purge is different from Spam accounts (sometimes referred to as bots) which typically exhibit spammy behavior from the beginning, but Twitter system has been accurate on stopping them since spam accounts are increasingly predictable by their systems, and can be automatically shut down with their technology.

US President Trump who’s one of the most active has lost a significant number of followers about 500,000 as if time of reporting this. Most celebrities internationally have been affected as well.

The big-name Twitter accounts who lost the most followers in fake account purge

Followers lost@twitter – 7.5 million!!@KatyPerry – 1.5 million@BarackObama – 2.1 million@taylorswift13 – 2.3 million@YouTube – 2 million@realDonaldTrump – 100,000 https://t.co/9z7tv23Ouf pic.twitter.com/9wMN0ZfoHE

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) July 12, 2018

https://twitter.com/6billionpeople/status/1017496227250950144?s=21

It seems they’re not all gone and most for resurrect.

Lost 100k followers in The Twitter Bot Purge. 40k just came back like the Five Little Ducks that went swimming one day… you can’t keep a good bot down it seems 🤔 #bots #purge #TwitterPurge #botpocalypse #botpurge #byebyebots #prayforbots

— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) July 13, 2018

Kenyan big wigs and influencers have also not been spared and have lost followers in their big numbers with biggest casualties being the popular Xtiandela and Cyprian Nyakundi whom have cumulatively lost over 1 million followers since the purge started.

Nyakundi was originally at 1.2million followers

Xtiandela was originally at 1million followers.

Mutai was initially at 300K+ followers

Ezekiel Mutua the moral police has been whipped down by Twitter police down to 34K from 106K followers.

A part from Kenya’s twitter big names there are some other small scale influencers who’ve also been worst hit with most losing an average of 50,000-100,000 followers. Even the President Uhuru’s account hasn’t been spared either with this about 80,000 followers killed from his counts.

A bit of consolation is everybody is losing followers so it’s not just you alone, everyone including the founder of Twitter has been hit.

(I lost 200k followers 👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼)

— jack (@jack) July 12, 2018

Twitter is also removing accounts that have been inactive for more than 30 days and this explains the big numbers of accounts getting killed. It might be depressing to most especially those with big numbers but it is positive on creating real conversations with real people. While fingers obviously are pointing, it is not definite that those who lost followers necessarily bought boys to scale up their followers count even though it could also be part of their predicaments.

July 13, 2018
Why Jamii Telecom’s Faiba 4G Unlikely To End Safaricom’s Dominance But A Game Changer For Kenya

Safaricom remains the telecommunication giant in Kenya with a market share of 71.2 percent in Kenya according to 2016 second quarter statistics report by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) this translates to about 28M active subscribers. This leaves other players like Airtel, Telkom Kenya, and Equitel with mere 28.8 percent share scramble.

Jamii Telecoms Ltd is the latest entry into the Mobile Operator market making it the 5th entrant. With a 4G market launch, Faiba has caused serious ripples with many analysts saying it could be the game changer to Safaricom’s dominance that has been in play for more than a decade. However, it is easier said than done, we’ve seen several companies come and go citing unfair market environment attributed to the Saf’s dominance.

Faiba 4G is however not a usual launch, in a country with estimated 86% internet penetration with about 41M Kenyans accessing the internet and majority through their smartphones, Jamii Telecoms saw a perfect opportunity. Famed for the Faiba broadband home and businesses high-speed internet connectivity, they already have a ground with over 120K subscribers to kick them off.

During the launch of Faiba 4G

The Communication Authority of Kenya awarded Jamii the prestigious 4G spectrum amidst complaints, especially from Safaricom that it was unprocedural and that the company didn’t pay the required Sh2.5B for the 4G license. So far only Safaricom and Telkom Kenya have acquired the 800MHz spectrum, Airtel still at 3.75G. Despite the complaints of favoritism, Faiba 4G is officially live with mind-boggling data price tags.

A look at JTL’s pricing signals competitive times ahead: 1GB data bundles will cost Sh50 (valid for one day), 70GB at Sh3,000 (valid for a month) and 210 GB at Sh6,000 for a month as well.

Safaricom on the other hand offers 150MB for Sh50 (valid for a day), 1GB for Sh500 (valid for a month) and 12GB at Sh3,000 (valid for a month).

Airtel’s 1GB 24-hour data bundle costs subscribers Sh99, 6GB costs Sh1,000 (valid for a month) and 24GB goes for Sh3,000 (valid for a month).

Safaricom which offers highest internet speed compared to its competitors yet have highest data prices in the market is viewed as the main target as Faiba seeks to take a huge chunk of the share. Faiba 4G operates on band 28, 700MHz frequency spectrum, this is both great news and bad. First, it’s great since it will give consumers miraculous internet speeds, from tests, we’ve learned the Faiba 4G speeds goes up to 72Mbps, it also has higher penetration capabilities like into buildings as compared to the 800MHz spectrum now used by Safaricom and Telkom.

Secondly, Faiba 4G is limiting in so many ways; device selectivity, only those with 4G enabled phones with VoLTE features will be able to access their internet or their own Faiba mobile. Most Kenyans own budget smartphones that aren’t necessarily 4G VoLTE enabled thereby limiting the number of people able to use their services.

VoLTE stands for voice over LTE and it’s more or less exactly what it says on the tin. It’s voice calls over a 4G LTE network, rather than the 2G or 3G connections which are usually used. The big advantage of VoLTE is that call quality is superior to 3G or 2G connections as far more data can be transferred over 4G than 2G or 3G.

Faiba 4G promises lifetime on-net calls as long as you have an active data bundle, while this sounds appetizing, it is also limiting that such calls can only happen if both have VoLTE enabled phones and within 4G area, when network signal weakens, the call quality is reduced or disconnects.

Faiba 4G’s mi-fi

So far, there’s no provider that beats Faiba 4G’s data bundles but the biggest headache that will stall their immediate boom is the device selectivity and also network reachability. Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa, and Thika are covered by the Faiba 4G with 300 bases and a plan to extend the bases to 1000 in the next 3 years.

Disrupting Safaricom’s dominance is not a walk in the sand and needs more than a flashy launch with heavenly offers. Reliability, reachability, innovations are some of Safaricom’s confidence zones that have seen them stand firm in the market. Mpesa remains one of re greatest innovations by Safaricom that has made it East Africa’s giant. Kenya, for instance, is synonymous with mobile transactions, the economy is literally running on Mpesa with billions moved across the platform annually.

Mpesa actually could as well be Safaricom’s biggest asset that keeps it afloat. We’ve seen Airtel money even with zero rate transactions, unable to beat of Mpesa, not for anything but reliability, agents are spread all over the country and it’s not a hustle to access your money compared to other providers. Therefore, if Faiba 4G is to hack this, then they must not play the same cards by competitors that have failed but come up with new innovations and strategies to level Mpesa dominance. Faiba Money is set for launch as well. Accessibility of Safaricom network even in the most of remote areas also makes it stand out and a major preference, if Jamii can invest heavily to match up the reach then they’re in the right lane to beat it off.

According to the management, all is not lost for Faiba 4G as they’re likely to change bands from 700MHz depending on the availability of frequencies, this will obviously increase their reach and capture more customers angry for affordable data services. We’re also told they have solid strategies that will spread over the next coming years to totally disrupt and maul a good share of the market. As it stands, it’s a wait and sees situation.

Coming months, Kenyans are likely to witness a brutalizing corporate war as Faiba, Safaricom, Telkom fight for customers loyalty and the data market share. As the giants engage in the brawl, consumers can sit back and expect affordable, quality data services, a competitive market is often a blessing to the consumers. Safaricom is unlikely to let go easily what they have and so is Telkom, Airtel and Equitel both who’re struggling to rise. Faiba 4G as the new entrant has to go an extra mile to make an impact in the market but until then the market is open but literally a one man’s show.

December 7, 2017
How The Future Of Social Media Marketing Is Going To Be

After 3 months of real meditation and research, Here is What I Think the Future of Social Media Marketing is Going to be. Please read Every single tweet here because it matters. Social Media is the new age of media and the arena of attention. It is therefore very important for brands to fully lay a foundation to be able to remain relevant in the market.

We are going to live in the age of the thank you economy where people’s emotions and feelings come first before they make decisions to buy products. Influencers will have more power than internal brand marketing teams. Brands will need to start fully rebranding to products that relate to their customers and their passions. For example, CocaCola producing customized Coke bottles for influential figures and their fans. Let me make this clear, the biggest asset we all trade in on Social Media is the Attention of customers and fans. The faster brands learn this the better they will be in positioning themselves.

Start now and avoid disappearing into the world of noise. Today is the best time to start your digital journey before other people start to give wrong or half-baked information about your brand. Create Authenticity early. Customers and fans feedback modified by brand strategists will be the sole source of information for innovations and rebranding. Social media will be very instrumental in collecting these voices to facilitate brand improvement.

Talent Acquisition is going to 70% be based on Social media as a source of background checks. With platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn will provide businesses with choices on getting the right talents that resonate with their brands. Your Next competitor will start their business on Social Media and acquire real fans and customers before the actual business kick starts. You will most likely regret not having put your brand online early when they take away all your customers.

Your Brand Website and Blog will be the two sole sources of authentic information about your business. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will simply help you share content from your website to your customers and fans. Fast-forward to the future, and we should see global social media usage continue on its upward trajectory. In just 4 years, eMarketer projects will nearly double by 32.7%. By 2021 4.5 billion of the world’s population will be on social networks. No matter where your business is located in the world, the psychology of consumers will almost be similar as a result of Social Media effect. Break the mentality of “for us, we are African, Asian, European or American,” just adopt a global brand standard.

When news breaks in the future, it will be covered by a multitude of eyewitnesses streaming live video. These streams will knit together into a single immersive video, enabling the viewer to virtually experience the event in real time. I think that anything we talk about in 25 years is going to sound like science fiction. Mobile is the first step toward the portable future of social media and how we consume it, and I think wearables will be a big part of that.

Imagine shopping on an e-commerce store with a friend, virtually trying things on your avatar that’s representative of your likeness and conversing in real time with that friend, all while on the go in different places. Keyboards on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones will become increasingly irrelevant, as interactions on what was once called social media will largely be voice-controlled. Holographic displays will be shifting into the mainstream.

My bet is that social will be less about standalone apps and websites and more about the “piping” of the Internet. In the future the Internet will operate more like electricity does today. 16. Communication in the future will be built on the foundation started by what is today called social media, but it will look much different. The most dramatic change by 2030 will not only be the amount of data that will be available to everyone but also the decision-making power of that data. We currently have thermostats that learn our preferences, & Nike even knows how often and how fast we run.

All I do all week is look at my phone, reading articles, liking posts, sending emails/tweets. In the future, I will “disconnect” by putting on Oculus virtual reality glasses when I get home and suddenly I’ll be sitting courtside at the WWE ring with my Facebook friends. I think that [social media] will be more integrated into everything. As you think further down the road, I don’t think that there’s going to be something called social media that people will be talking about in 20 years.

I see more of a divide happening between socializing and publishing via social media, and platforms like Facebook that merge the two will probably need to pick a lane and change significantly. Conclusion: The best business tools on social media are going to be as expensive as buying traditional media equipment today. Brands with bigger budgets will have better tools than those with low budgets.

November 12, 2017
Twitter’s Transparency Report Put Kenya Top Of African Governments Seeking Information On Users

Twitter is witnessing an increasing number of government requests for data involving user accounts.

The company released its latest transparency report, which aims to help consumers better understand tweet removal requests and copyright notices as well as government information requests. With each report, the number of government requests continues to rise, and the US government continues to make more requests than any other government.

This is the drawback of using social networks and other online services. The information you share can come back to haunt you. In most of the requests the IP logins tops the requests.

Kenya tops the list of African Governments Seeking closure on users. This is done through the National Intelligence Service should that have a criminal case against a user to pursue. Here’s the graphical representation of the requests posted by GoK. Despite the requests, Twitter in the last 6 months granted the GoK access to either of the accounts they asked for.

September 21, 2016
Kenya Joins Other Authoritarian Regimes in Switching off the Internet vote, UN Furious

There has been telltale of the government gagging the internet citing security issues. Most recently, the system has hinted at a possible stiff Internet regulation policies ahead of the 2017 elections.

With internet accessibility in the country continuing to skyrocket and many rely on the web for information, the growing number of users, regulating content is a nearly impossible task.

NCIC has warned that social media is the new platform in which hatemongers propagate tribal hatred and are seeking ways in which to regulate social media use. Initially, oppressive article 19 was used to muzzle voices, but it has since been overruled as being unconstitutional. The government is determined to regulate the internet, and all the signs are in the air.

The move by Kenya in joining other dictatorial regimes in the bid to have the government be a key player in regulating the Internet use is causing fear for the future as Kenya heads to 2017 elections. In Uganda, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ally Yoweri Museveni shut down the internet and messaging services as the country held their general elections.

The authoritarian president claimed an open internet was a threat to national security during the period.
The United Nations officially condemned the practice of countries shutting down access to the internet at a meeting of the Human Rights Council on Friday.

A resolution entitled The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet extends human rights held offline to the web. Consensus passed it, but only after a determined effort by some countries, including China and Russia, to pull out key parts of the text.

In particular, some states – notably by their authoritarian stances – were opposed to the resolution’s focus on the need for an accessible and open internet, and its condemnation of violations against people for expressing their views online. A vote planned for Thursday was delayed until Friday after the issue became heated.

Protesters fighting for freedom of speech

Some were surprised by the 13 other countries that lined up with Russia and China to delete the text on ensuring access to the internet. Among such authoritarian regimes as Saudi Arabia and Qatar were also democracies including India and South Africa.

Likewise on a second amendment to remove references to freedom of expression. Russia and China were joined by 15 other countries including India, Kenya and South Africa.

“We are disappointed that democracies like South Africa, Indonesia, and India voted in favour of these hostile amendments to weaken protections for freedom of expression online,” said Thomas Hughes, the executive director of Article 19, a charity focused on protecting free speech. He added: “The resolution is a much-needed response to increased pressure on freedom of expression online in all parts of the world.”

Resolutions

That person has the same rights online as offline, “in particular freedom of speech, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice.”

Those human rights violations enacted against people due to making their views known online are “condemned unequivocally,” and states are held accountable for any such violations.

Any measures to “intentionally prevent or disrupt access” to the internet are also “condemned unequivocally,” and all states should “refrain from and cease such actions.”

In effect, that means that the expanding use of Internet shutdowns by governments claiming national security issues or even, in the case of Iraq, to prevent exam cheating, will now go against formal UN policy.

If all these signs have anything to go by then freedom of expression and access to information on a population that consumes heavily from the internet, Kenyans should look ahead for business unusual in coming days, weeks, months and years.

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July 4, 2016
Social Media Is Not A Threat To Kenya’s National Security You Have More Dangerous Vices To Worry About

Writer, Kenya West

You can’t eat your cake and have quickly challenged in African context given how the power elites for the longest time in history have been able to control the narrative and information flow in the traditional media. It has made it possible to sell garbage wrapped nicely as candy pack. Due to their tight grip on the traditional media, the African power elites have had fields day manipulating the traditional media and having their way with whichever social fraud they commit. Simple script, if it didn’t appear on the press it didn’t happen, that’s how the shots have been called.

New age media, the internet era, has completely revolutionized information dissemination and consumption sending a distress call to the big boys. Business has ceased being usual, the horse has gone wild and not even the harshest stroke seem useful in taming. The Internet has given rise to a new breed of citizen journalism with bloggers taking center stage. The ball is no longer dribbled by the traditional media alone; the bloggers are changing the game’s dynamics.

In the recent times, bloggers in Kenya have come under radar especially those deemed critical to the government and influential figures at large. In January alone about ten bloggers were arrested amongst them Cyprian Nyakundi, Yassin Juma, Patrick Safari, Judith Akolo, Eddie Illah,Robert Alia and Dikembe Disembe

The power elites in Kenya have targeted the bloggers in major clampdown specifically those critical to the system. In a well-orchestrated manner, arrests have been flying all over in a desperate bid to gag and suffocate the information flow new order pushed by the bloggers.

Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi

When a hyena wants to eat its children, it first accuses them of smelling like goats an African proverb that captures best the technique robust system adopted in dealing with the blogging menaces. The government being unhappy with the game has resorted to intimidating cards through unwarranted arrests. Section 29 of the information and communication act of misusing licensed telecommunication gadget, the same quote across all the arrested. The government has been accused by human rights watch for hiding behind this law as they pounce on bloggers.

Article 33 of the Kenyan constitution, guarantees everyone right to freedom of expression which goes further allowing them to seek, receive or impart ideas and information. It’s, therefore, selfish for the system to be impartial to the spirit of the constitution. If anything, you only worry about scrutiny of you have a lot to hide. Why would the system and power elites be concerned about citizens seeking information if they’re not doing anything dirty?

The bloggers have threatened the livelihoods of social fraudsters, big business that was initially immune to scrutiny and exposing of their company’s ills are left shivering as bloggers actively prove to be untamed. Controversial Kenyan blogger, Cyprian Nyakundi is currently jumping from one courtroom to the other thanks to legal actions against him after exposing big business like Safaricom and BIDCO Africa. Companies that were thought to be untouchable and could move with utmost ease and impunity no longer can.

Threat to national security

Clampdown on bloggers critical of the government has been read by many as an attack on the freedom of expression and ugly bid by the system to continue controlling the information flow. More than often, bloggers have been accused of posting information seen as the threat to national security, in the right appetite of a hyena eating its kids, the hyena in this case Kenyan government has painted the bloggers as biggest threats to the national security way above terrorists slaughtering Kenyans. Begging the question, are bloggers the threat to national security in Kenya? The threat to safety is the umbrella used to gain public sympathy as the elites embark on mass lashing. Priorities should be rewritten, and issues faced head on without using bloggers as an excuse. The following according to me are the biggest threats to national security.

Corruption

Terrorism as a global scale problem has mainly hit Kenya and an apparent headache to the government. Less than four weeks ago, Al Shabaab attacked Kenya Defence Force (KDF) El Adde Camp in Somalia killing an unknown number of soldiers though preliminary state figures put it at a double figure. Corruption has facilitated terror attacks to a larger extent. Movement of weapons and terrorists in and out of the borders has been blamed on corrupt officers manning the borders. Several reports including those from UN, Justice For Journalists (JFJ) point out at a possibility of high-ranking army officials entangled in illegal sugar smuggling racket and alcohol trade in Somalia, Kismayu airport with KDF notably named as a major player.

Such selfish interests at the expense of our national security are a bigger threat than bloggers and when such issues are highlighted and questioned one is quickly named threat to national safety and risks being a visitor of the state.

Extensively, corruption in public offices, denying opportunities to deserving citizens, cutting off jobs only breeds more criminals contributing to the insecurity surge.

Incompetence

Blogger and journalist Yassin Juma were arrested just moments before he could publish information exposing incompetence issues on the El Adde attack. Yassin claims he was in contact with a source who revealed to him to have provided intelligence to the relevant agencies on the impending attack on the KDF Camp weeks before they were raided. Issues as to when the information was received, preparatory measures adopted by the commanders in readiness. It’s a sacrilege even to think about questioning the competency of the army. Westgate brought into focus some competence flaws by the KDF, but when bloggers and journalists like KTN’s Mohammed Ali raised the issues, they were quickly called out and dismissed as terrorist sympathizers. A miscalculation can lead to hundreds of deaths. Incompetence in any security force is a significant threat to the national security

Blogger Robert Alai

Marginalization

Historically, marginalization of certain communities has been evident, contributing to the growth of hostile citizenship. With the sensitivity that it comes with, many have resolved to speak about it in low tones but look to kill a bedbug, and you have to use two fingers. In unity there’s power. Marginalization on conservative and religious perspectives can be blamed on the rise of insecurity in Kenya. Citizens from the North Eastern region of the country, have for decades complained of being given second class citizens compared to what they feel others are getting. Economic marginalization that has left significant parts of it impoverished can be attributed to the rise in terrorists pile up. Most of the youths that crossed over to Somalia to join the terror group have reportedly blamed their shift on unemployment with the militia promising lavish employment opportunities. While it’s morally unjustifiable, the truth is not any far.

Gagged Media

The traditional media in Kenya is having powerful forces fingerprints stamped all over it. The information control is at its all time highest. Just last month, Daily Nation fired its editor Dennis Galava for writing an article critical of the government, this step is said to have been pushed by powerful forces from above. Galava is not the only journalist to have faced the noose, and some journalists have, and there’s a cold order in the newsrooms against inking anything critical to the system. Information is power and actively informed citizenry is the biggest threat to power masters as they become exquisitely inquisitive, alert and hindering to their manipulative ways.

Being a curious society, the more system attempt to gag the media, bloggers will continue to grow as the best alternative for unfiltered news which in turn blossoms their careers. Four weeks after the El Adde attack, the government is yet to come out and give precise figures. Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab seems to have won the war on propaganda, have released their alleged casualty numbers which they put at a 100+ number. Instead of being consistent in information flow, the government resorted to gagging the bloggers yet themselves created that void by not giving information to the public who are hungry to get the finer details. While it’s ethically immoral to post photos such as that Yassin was arrested for, it’s not in any way illegal.

Flawed communication strategy

Kenyans on Twitter recently mocked President Kenyatta on #UhuruInKenya this followed concerns about his constant foreign travels. Kenyans felt he’s barely in the country. The administrative communication team came in later to give clarifications on the need for such trips and benefits to the country. This was a too much yet too late move. The team should’ve developed a strategy consistently to give the public information on most of his trips and not waiting till the bomb goes off.

During Westgate and most recently El Adde attack, the government has proven not to be engaging best of strategies in handling the crisis situations. Too much information withholding is giving space to the Al Shabaab to propel their propaganda. Constraining the information in such a times is what gets the bloggers hitting the rail, and the enemies can take advantage to sell a spade as a big spoon. The Clear communication strategy will go a long way in fighting the war on terror.

Intimidation

Out of ten bloggers arrested, only one would eventually face charges. Most are arrested, held illegally in custody for days before being released without single charge pressed. This is a clear blueprint of intimidation on bloggers to tame their mouths but has worked the other way round. Blogger Nyakundi, who was arrested and released, after two days without any charges against him, says,”these moves are intimidating theatrics put out to try and gag the bloggers. I was asked why I’m always attacking the government and about my accomplices, this is unacceptable, we’re in a democratic country where everyone is free to support any political agenda.” Similarly, Yassin Juma was released without any charge pressed against him, and that has been the case for Robert Alai, Dikembe Disembe, Patrick Safari and the rest. The fact that no charge gets to be pressed against them is a clear indication that there’s no crime committed and the intentions for arrests are only to play scare tactic role.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery

Own up

One of the greatest minds in humanity, Aristotle said,”to avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing” Jubilee government holding the throne, must look forward to criticism. While they’re going for the bloggers as the threat to national security, real terrorists are taking advantage to restructure themselves. Criticism doesn’t equate to being unpatriotic but rather shows one’s love and concern for the country and only pointing out loopholes for the betterment. Going for bloggers and tolerating economic terrorists, corruption cartels milking the country dry is equivalent to punching the air blindly while the enemy was strategizing cocking the gun behind you.

If you can’t beat them

As Kenya moves closer to 2017 general elections, the bloggers will have let role in information flow. Coming from a violent election and memories still clear of 2007/08, the country is vulnerable. Only those with a lot to hide are threatened by the bloggers, the government or the power elites shouldn’t be worried if all their dealings are stainless. The media has the jurisdiction of being the public’s watchdog, and if it fails to play the mandate, bloggers are restructuring the game and playing that role.

Public offices and power holders must be open to scrutiny and lethal criticism. They must be put into accountability. Fighting bloggers by painting them as the threat to national security with unconstitutional charges is uncouth and backward. To completely tame the bloggers as they are deemed enemies of the state, run a clean system this, in turn, will deny fodder to the bloggers who’re now increasingly watchful. Arresting and intimidating the bloggers has proved to be ineffective and only working as a rating booster for the bloggers. The game has completely changed, and the business as usual syndrome showed the door.

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June 17, 2016