Airtel has launched an AI-powered Fraud Alert system in India to combat real-time One-Time Password (OTP) scams, a key method of digital theft through social engineering.

• The system detects when a user is on a voice call with a potential scammer while simultaneously receiving a sensitive banking OTP, triggering an immediate "fraud alert check" warning.
• Shashwat Sharma, Managing Director & CEO of Airtel India, emphasized that this network-level intervention strengthens protection against banking frauds.
• While currently live in Haryana, India, with a nationwide rollout planned, Airtel's history of porting successful security features suggests its potential arrival in Kenya, a market with high mobile money usage and vulnerability to scams like Wangiri fraud.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has issued a public warning against 21 mobile phone brands deemed "non-type approved," citing significant safety and health risks.

• 21 mobile phone brands, including TINSIK, REALFONE, and MOMOFLY, have been red-flagged.
• Director General David Mugonyi stated these devices pose risks related to Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), health (radiation), and physical safety (battery explosions, electric shocks).
• Consumers can verify their phone's legitimacy by dialing *#06# to find their IMEI and sending it via SMS to 1555.
• The crackdown aims to protect consumers from hazardous, unregulated devices that often cut corners on safety standards.

A recent audit of the Kenyan Government Human Resource Information System-Kenya (HRIS-K) has uncovered severe security vulnerabilities, leading to widespread financial fraud and the alteration of millions of payroll records without a trace. The system, designed to manage the public sector workforce, lacked fundamental safety mechanisms, allowing for massive irregularities.

• 720 system editors possessed "God Mode" access, enabling them to alter payroll records and even their own without oversight.
• 4.7 million payroll records were altered "without audit trails," making forensic analysis of who made the changes "technically impossible."
• The system ran on expired ICT licences and lacked basic cybersecurity safeguards, compromising its integrity.