Kenya, Nigeria to polish up on digital security

© Denys Rudyi - za.Fotolia.com

According to the Nation, the accounts were restored and then effortlessly high-jacked again within the hour. The Nation calls the tweets "offensive", but the few examples it provides are scathing enough, but not abusive.

Needless to say, the hack has caused Kenya some embarrassment, especially in the wake of recent attacks that have shaken people's confidence in national security forces.

The Nigerian Tribune reports on another digital security blunder.

Nigerian co-founder of Transparency International and Bring Back our Girls activist, Oby Ezekwesili, caused quite a stir in the media. She was momentarily held up by security at the airport on Monday on her way to London. She tweeted about it in real time to her couple hundred thousand followers and the news went viral. She boarded her plane within the half hour.

According to the Tribune, state security denied the event and many in government lashed out against Ezekwesili, some saying that she had embarrassed her country by being such a drama queen. The Tribune reports an intelligence officer testily saying that just because you have access to the internet and are going through a standard security, doesn't mean you can publically claim that you are detained.

And yet the Nigerian Times seems to think that it's the growing online reaction that caused security forces to release her so quickly.

The Nigerian army also vowed to rapidly regain control over the Northeastern region Boko Haram has seized. The armed group's raid left dozens dead and displaced more than 15,000 within hours. The army denied accounts that the group had hoisted their flag in Damboa village, with the spokesman, evidently having a bad digital presence day, stating: "I will not be stampeded to endorse what you read on social media."

Read or listen to this story on the RFI website.