Role of Public-Private Sector Partnerships in Mitigating Cyber Security Threats in Kenya

Increasing espionage and technology-related crimes such as hacking have made cybersecurity a national priority in government and private sectors. Given the increasing vulnerabilities in cyber security and frequent attacks on personal information and the realization that data protection and management is a shared responsibility, public-private partnerships in cybersecurity have been considered a viable approach to mitigating cybersecurity threats. This study therefore focused on assessing the role of public-private sector partnerships in mitigating cybersecurity threats. The study adopted both primary and secondary data in data collection. 15 key informants, purposively sampled, will be involved in the study, and their findings will be corroborated by the already existing literature that assesses the role of public-private sector partnerships on cybersecurity. The research found that addressing cybersecurity threats is a collective and shared responsibility that requires the partnership of both the private and public sectors. The study established that critical cyber issues, including trust deficits, failure to standardize cyber policies and laws, and privacy concerns, among others, continue to hinder public-private partnerships on cybersecurity. The study also found that public-private partnerships present viable opportunities for information sharing, innovation, and the development of effective regulatory frameworks to limit cyberattacks. The research recommends the development of effective and efficient systems of data sharing, cyber security inter-agencies, and critical infrastructure protection. Other recommendations include conducting periodic joint audits and assessments, joint pooling of resources, joint training and sensitization on cyber security, establishment of a joint effective incident response and emergency management unit, strengthening frameworks and laws on cyber security, and lastly, further research is critical for cyber security.