LEGAL TECH AND AFRICAN CYBERSECURITY DYNAMICS

By

 SARON OBIA

CyJurII Theorist

on 7 November 2025

Trust and cooperation are fading between the state and tech companies, due to legal battles over technologically enabled crimes.  In 2023, the African Union (AU) internet connectivity was breached by the BlackCat Group (also known as ALPHV), the impact being mitigated by the International Criminal Police (Interpol) and partners. The proliferation of tech devices, software, and payment portals calls for more cyber laws to control, restrict, and mitigate the impact when weaponized. Most of these tech gadgets, which are usually used in perpetrating crimes, are also essential in forensics and criminal profiling. 

Legal tech simply refers to the use of new technologies to improve or automate legal work, particularly software used in policing crimes. Legal tech equally integrates artificial intelligence to extract evidence from digital footprints of suspected criminals on cyberspace. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Contrary to local narratives, AI is not just to mimic human intelligence, but rather to develop advanced security narratives in an emerging era of technologically enabled crimes. For example, Shodan is a search engine exploited by pentesters, network engineers, and ethical hackers to verify vulnerable networks and websites.

Shodan search engine helps scan vulnerable networks, websites, and camera systems around the globe. It is also known as the hacker’s search engine, as it exposes vulnerable websites that are easily accessible and can be hacked. In 2012, A Forum Code Security "hacker known as Direxer, exploited a Web vulnerability and took down 103 government of Kenya websites overnight, leaving unfixed programming errors in code" in a major security breach.

In May 2015, popular Indonesian hackers Gantenger's Crew hacked and defaced the President of Kenya's website (LTN, 2015). On the defaced webpage, experts identified digital footprints of the crew. They replaced the webpage with theirs. A scan with Shodan by experts would have provided vulnerabilities of a website and aid in reconfiguring the security system, to avoid any cyber-attack or hack, in order to develop a future strategy to protect the country’s cyberspace. 

Most of the time, ethical hackers use Shodan in order to detect vulnerable networks in order to better secure organizations from system breaches from organized criminal networks. Law enforcement agencies with advanced knowledge equally exploit the application to verify the vulnerable connectivity of CCTV cameras around the country.

Password hashing helps to store the user’s password so that it cannot be retrieved by anyone. For most companies, it represents a level of due diligence, even though the different tech tools can still be accessed.  With new technologies like the Simbox and the FlipperZero, communication and credit card fraud crimes are emerging. The Flipper Zero is a hacking gadget designed for security researchers, particularly for pentesters, who use it to intercept and replay all kinds of wireless signals, including NFC, infrared, RFID, and Wi-Fi. The most interesting aspect of this device is its ability to clone building-entry cards and read credit card details through people's clothes. The reason the device has been banned in Canada, that it has capabilities which is also essential for security agencies. For example, the Apple vs. FBI Case, in which Apple refused to assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to unlock an iPhone that belonged to Syed Rizwan Farouk, a potential shooter linked to the San Bernardino attack in California, United States, on December 2, 2015. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had to hire an external hacker to unlock the device.  In some Sub-Saharan African countries, hackers are still considered criminals, rather than cybersecurity experts. 

In terms of cyber laws, Cameroon is well equipped to restrict any gadgets or tech tools that can be used for criminal intent, such as the Magic Jack, Simbox, and FlipperZero used by cybercriminals. These laws are not limited to:

•  Law No 2010/021 of 21 December 2010 on Electronic Commerce in Cameroon; Decree No. 2015/3759 of 3 September 2015, laying down the Identification Requirements for Subscribers and Terminal Equipment of Electronic as per Art. 6 (some of the key issues requested for registration); 

• Decree No 2017/2580/PM of 06 April 2017 Setting the Terms and Conditions for the Establishment or Operation of Electronic Communication Networks and Supplies of Electronic Communication Services subject to the Authorisation Regime and

•  Law No 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 relating to Cybersecurity and Cybercriminality in Cameroon.

So long as these devices are used for victimization, restrictions and regulations must target importers, who refuse to cooperate with the judiciary. However, the FlipperZero is a pocket tool for security researchers shaping and policing non-conventional crimes.

Similarly, the Kenyan Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, in its Part III, which focuses on offences as per section 18 (1) and (2), reads as follows:

• (1) A person who knowingly manufactures, adapts, sells, procures for use, imports, offers to supply, distributes or otherwise makes available a device, program, computer password, access code or similar data designed or adapted primarily for the purpose of committing any offence under this Part, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding twenty million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both.

• (2) A person who knowingly receives, or has, a program or a computer password, device, access code, or similar data from any action specified under subsection (1) and intends that it be used to commit or assist in commission of an offence under this Part commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both.

The above law should be applied to restrict the use and importation of certain tech tools and sanction non-abiding citizens in the country. The case of the United States of America v. RAMON OLORUNWA ABBAS, aka “Ray Hushpuppi,” aka “Hush,” (Case No. 2:20-mj-02992) exposed a new narrative of money laundering, which formerly relay of cyber-enabled fraud and business email compromise (“BEC”) schemes. The increase in PayPal victimization has made both victims and criminals switch to other payment platforms or methods like Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, just to cite a few. When suspected criminals induce their victims to wire or use the new payment mediums, they later cash out the funds at any local mobile payment agent in Africa, with forged identification documents, use of pre-registered SIM cards, and phones purchased and resold in the dark market after the ‘game’. Security is a combination of ideas, technology, and laws.

READ

FBI–Apple encryption dispute. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/fbi-apple-encryption-dispute

Indonesian Hackers Hacked the President of Kenya's Website [Source: LHN, (2015)] in Kibe (2018)

Le Monde (2023) : https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/04/25/vent-de-panique-a-l-union-africaine-apres-une-nouvellecyberattaque_6170976_3212.html

Kibe (2018), An Experiment to Determine the Effect of Ethical Hacking on IT Administrators' Patch and Vulnerability Management Attitudes, a case of a leading telecommunications company. Masters of Science in Information Systems of the School of Computing and Informatics, University of Nairobi.

Kharpal, A. 2015. Ethical hacking: Are companies ready? [Online] Available from https://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/17/are-companies-still-scared-of-white-hat-hackers.html [Accessed: 4th January 2018]

Michael Kan 2024. Canada Walks Back Ban on Flipper Zero, Targets ‘Illegitimate’ Use Cases

PayPal users targeted in account profile scam. Posted: September 3, 2025, by Pieter Arntz. https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/09/paypal-users-targeted-in-account-profile-scam

Security News This Week: This Cheap Hacking Device Can Crash Your iPhone With Pop-Ups by MATT BURGESS. https://www.wired.com/story/flipper-zero-iphone-dos-attack-security-roundup/