Robin Wilton, Internet Society's director for Internet Trust.

To commemorate Global Encryption Day 2024, Internet Society chapters in Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Benin will host events to educate and train people about the importance of encryption in protecting data and privacy.

End-to-end encryption is the process of transforming or protecting information such that only the sender and intended recipient can view it and it also protects the personal security of billions of people around the world, according to the Society.

The Internet Society said by raising awareness and providing encryption training,  organisers are empowering communities to take responsibility of their own digital security.

Furthermore, the Internet Society said lack of training in encryption for digital security puts Africa economies at risk.

Robin Wilton, Internet Society's director for Internet Trust, in an interview with ITWeb Africa, said: “People are notoriously bad at understanding digital security threats, and bad at choosing strong passwords. That’s human nature – and the best remedy is education. That’s why education and training are such an important part of the Internet Society’s work, not just in Africa, but around the world.”

He went on to say: “Encryption protects commercial data and the transactions we make online every day and across borders. Without it, economies are at risk. And encryption is also a vital part of authentication and authorisation. It is the means by which we can be sure we are talking to the right person, or visiting the website we meant to go to. Encryption secures the login process, and keeps passwords safe.”

According to the Internet Society, encryption is the foundation of any digital community; hence it is critical that African nations be trained to improve online security.

He explained: “Most populations are expected to connect to the Internet, mostly by mobile devices. At the same time, the process of digital transformation means that online services are being launched such as e-commerce, e-education, and e-health. Africa is transforming into a digital continent, it is never too late to educate and train people about the importance of data protection and privacy.”

However, according to Wilton, the training comes with certain challenges that are unique in the continent for example, he said: “Africa is physically huge, with very diverse and distributed populations and a multitude of languages. We do our best to provide training in multiple languages: for example, our online encryption training course is available in English, French, and Spanish.”