In a case filed to challenge the project dubbed Huduma number, an expert witness, Anand Venkatanatayanan, told the High Court that Kenyans have no guarantee that their information, including personal emails, are secure under National Integrated Identity System (NIIMS).
Anand cited changes in human being, the system giving two different results to the same person and failure by a similar project, Aadhaar, in India and hoarding information at one place as among reasons Kenyans would not benefit from the expensive project.
Instead, the project will be a honey-pot to hackers who want to milk millions from the Government, the witness told justices Pauline Nyamweya, Weldon Korir and Mumbi Ngugi.
“It is axiomatic in computer security that nothing is truly secure and there are only costs and benefits of hoarding data. Centralised databases such as Aadhaar and NIIMS, however, hoard so much data that the cost benefit ratio tilts definitely in favour of attackers,” he claimed.
Anand, an expert in cyber security and computer fraud forensic analysis, has worked for 21 years.
He was testifying on behalf of Nubian community who have challenged the viability of the Huduma number project.