CA Director General Ezra Chiloba confirm registration of 40 million SIM cards

A total of 40milion sim cards had been registered by last weekend deadline set by telecommunications firms to deactivate all unregistered lines, the Director General (DG) of the Communications Authority (CA) Ezra Chiloba Simiyu has confirmed.

This translated to 80 per cent for all mobile lines registered sim cards in the country.

“No matter who the owner is, every line that is not registered will have to be switched off and we will hold the three operators accountable for any line that will be found operating under their brand name unlawfully.” Chiloba observed.

He spoke to the media on the sidelines of the annual Cyber Security Conference in Naivasha.

Safaricom, the largest telco firm in the country recorded the highest listing at 93 per cent of the mobile phone SIM cards operating under its brand name, while Airtel has registered 81 per cent.

Chiloba said that Telkom Kenya Limited, the third mobile telecommunications operator was yet to provide clear statistics as of the time of his press appearance.

In order to allow individuals who have not registered their lines a chance to do so before they are entirely shut down, the DG said he has given the three mobile telephony companies until the end of next week.

At the same time, he advised all subscribers to take caution when handling their personal documents to avoid being utilised by scammers to register mobile lines for their illicit operations. He cited the struggle of many Kenyans to repay digital loans that con artists obtained via their unlawfully obtained mobile lines.

He emphasised the significance of having all SIM cards registered in order to ensure user security and prevent scammers from abusing their connections.

“To monitor the security of this data, we must also organise our digital data infrastructure. Kenya has achieved significant digital advancements in the financial sector and other areas that require protection.” Chiloba added.

The two-day conference brings together diverse Cyber Security stakeholders to talk about the numerous security issues that the digital sector faces.

At the meeting, it was revealed that over the previous three months alone, six million threats or criminal attempts had been made on Kenya’s cyber space, which is controlled by a number of actors.

However, these attempts had been thwarted by the experts who constantly monitor the space, and 58,000 advisories had been sent to the various actors operating there.

“This demonstrates how the global cyber realm is threatened by fraudsters and other criminals, which is why it needs to be secured,” Chiloba said.