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| One of the Houses (Photo credit: Daily Nation) |
Kenya News -- Up to 77 Chinese nationals were arrested in Nairobi for
allegedly operating a covert illegal cyber-command center. This involved three
houses within a radius of 1km in the posh Runda area of Nairobi. In one of the
houses, extensive equipment and software said to be capable of hacking into
bank accounts, Mpesa accounts and even ATMs was found.
The racket was accidentally uncovered after the police responded
to an incident in which fire had broken out in one of the houses, killing one
person. According to police accounts, when they arrived at the house, they
found the foreigners crowded in one room that had the communication equipment.
Typical of properties in the area, the compounds were electric
wire fenced, and CCTV cameras installed at the gates. 37 of the 77 were arrested earlier, and on
Wednesday, detectives raided one of the houses arresting 40 more Chinese
Nationals.
The seriousness of the issue is underscored by the fact that
Cabinet Secretaries for ICT (Fred Matiang’I) and Foreign Affairs (Amina
Mohammed) have already paid a visit to the three houses, in which the equipment
is still intact.
The discovery is a breakthrough in the war against
cybercrime in Kenya. The country has been facing increased cybercrime events in
the past months.
Nairobi Beijing Relations
Nairobi has enjoyed cordial relations with Beijing for close
to a decade now and there are economic and infrastructural gains to show for
that. But the surge in the number of Chinese nationals in the country has inevitably
led to a few problems. For instance, a number of Chinese nationals have been
arrested in Nairobi for selling or hawking substandard goods from China.
The impact of the new finding remains to be seen, however,
the Chinese Government, through its embassy, has pleaded with Kenya for a fair
trial against the 77. Investigations are
still underway but the 37 who were first arrested have already appeared before
the court.
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