Faculty of Information Technology (FIT)

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Effect of security mechanisms on the performance of wireless local area network.
(Strathmore University, 9) Otieno, Evans Meyo
Wireless networks gain their popularity and fame by providing users with several advantages in accessing information. WLANs provide true mobility and flexibility to users. Another advantage of wireless technology is installation. A physical or cable connection is no longer needed because a single connection to the access point via electromagnetic waves is all that is necessary. This both decreases installation costs and allows wireless networks to be installed in locations where previously it would have been difficult or impossible to install wiring. Such benefits and advantages bring up some security and performance problems. It is imperative to understand the impact of the security mechanisms on the performance of the network. However, the establishment of a trade-off between security and network performance is often neglected. The aim of the research is to quantify the impact of the security mechanisms on the performance of a network. To investigate the effect of multiple security mechanisms on the performance of multi-congested and uncongested networks. The performance effect on different TCP and UDP packet size distributions on secure networks is also studies. The results prove that the security mechanisms affect the network performance in different ways and the more secure the network is, the lower the performance is. The results provide ways in which to configure wireless networks such that security requirements can be met in relation to quantifiable performance impact in practical situations
Mobile phone voting using blind signature protocol
(Strathmore University, 2008) Olembo, Maureen
This project presents a generic secure electronic voting scheme for mobile phones, based on teh work of Y. Feng S Ng and S. Schwiderski-Grosche (2005), which can be implemented in contexts that require secure casting of votes such as parliamentary and national elections. The voting scheme presented is secured by use of the blind signature protocol and public key encryption. The security property of voter verification, democracy, voter anonymity and privacy, integrity and availability are achieved. Finally an analysis and design of a mobile phone voting system using the blind signature protocol is undertaken, and a simulation developed and presented.
A Framework for optimizing internet bandwidth utilization a kenyan perspective
(Strathmore University, 2008) Thaba, Davidson Njathi
The cost of internet bandwidth in Kenya, just like in other developing countries, is significantly high compared to the developed countries. The challenge of this research is to look at ways of making the most optimal use of the available bandwidth and improve performance in terms of reduced latency and better download speeds. In this dissertation, we investigate various techniques that can be used to optimize the utilization of the limited and expensive international bandwidth in developing countries. We look at the effects that content distribution networks (CDNs) and cache servers have o international bandwidth utilization as well as latency. A model of determining the point at which a content distribution network would be cost-effective is formulated. We also look at the variation in latency for content that is found within the CDNs as opposed to the origin servers. We have explored on the effect of local peering at internet exchange points and developed a model to determine the financial break-even point at which it makes a commercial sense for an ISP to join the internet exchange point in Kenya. We analyze the suitability of peering and transit models of internet exchange points as it applies to local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Peering and transit models for inter-ISP traffic exchange are studied and we show the comparative difference each has on latency in accessing local content. Noting that spam e-mails and viruses consume a significant amount of bandwidth, we explore the effect of content filtering of that junk at the upstream Internet backbone providers. We develop a model that local ISPs can use to determine the point at which it is cost effective to invest i a spam filtering solution located at a data center within the upstream internet backbone provider. We analyze trends in internet bandwidth utilization and note that many organizations have very low utilization at night - traffic analysis and prioritization can ensure that less critical and bandwidth-hungry applications can make good use of this "night bandwidth" We argue that as framework that combines each of these techniques would result in a significant reduction on the costs incurred by Internet Service Providers to pay for international transit bandwidth, a cost that they pass directly to the local end users. We look at the metrics that can be used to determine the optimal point of introducing each of thee bandwidth saving techniques. Data collected from a local ISP has been used to validate this framework. This demonstrates that such a framework can indeed provide significant savings on international bandwidth costs and at the same time improve the user experience. Internet service providers implementing such a frame work would ultimately be able to pass the cost saving benefits to their clients.
A Secure M-payment for M-commerce in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2008) Ananda, Fanon Tumaini
There has been a tremendous growth in mobile communications in Kenya over the last decade that has totally transformed how people communicate. This has presented opportunities for business to change how they operate, which includes banking services, whose infrastructure in Kenya is fairly advanced in comparison to neighbouring countries. Despite the advanced banking services available, account holders do still have problems of secure access in their transactions, especially using mobile devices. This research proposes an M-commerce model for a direct, trusted access to a client’s bank accounts via mobile devices. The methodology used for the research is based on the WebE process for M-commerce services and applications. In its implementation, it adopts a secure M-payment configuration based on a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for mobile devices. Further, it implements security issues through elliptic curve data signing algorithm. It should be noted that for a mobile system, it is important to implement a solution that is secure, relies on the available communication channels and works efficiently with the minimal resources available, a characteristic of mobile devices. The implementation enables the mobile device to act as a debit card and can be customized to implement security in any other transactions that utilize mobile device applications.
A Software upgrades investment model : a case of Windows operating system in Kenya.
(Strathmore University, 2008) Metto, Shadrack Kimutai
The revolution of software has introduced new actors and market mechanisms. Effective software management is crucial for development and survival of any company. IT upgrades investment in a crucial part in software management. The investments are usually costly and risky. Firms tend to treat such costs as operating expenses within the period incurred. Waiting too long may lead to lost competence, relevance and may prohibit a business from taking advantage of better vendor technologies in future, more so putting the company at risk by increasing the gap with the suitable business technology and business leadership opportunities. There are some factors which are critical in influencing the threshold point of change namely : acquisition and installation cost, change management (training and support), cost and opportunity cost. In context of both software and hardware upgrades, this project develops a simplified algorithm and tests its validity using data acquired from the Kenyan market to determine when is the appropriate time to upgrade where all costs are at minimum. The project focuses on study of Windows operating system.
Information security awareness in the kenyan aviation industry
(Strathmore University, 2008) Muendo, Daniel
People have always been an important factor in securing the information technology environment. They need to be made aware of its importance, as well as what their role is in securing information assets. Despite the widespread acceptance of t his fact many organizations still lack knowledge of information security threats caused by humans and levels of information security awareness. This research project tackles the human issues affecting information security in aviation industry and levels of information security in employees of the organizations here in Kenya. More specifically, this research provides the following : a comprehensive view of the human related information security threats, a discussion of ; a descriptive interpretive data revealing information technology manager’s perceptions about information security issues; a discussion of the level of information security awareness of employees in the aviation industry. From the results, an evaluation model for information’s security awareness is developed based on the areas of ISO/IEC 17799-2005 The research in this study suggests that there are two primary results which are shown here. The first is that leadership is elementary to the eventual effectiveness of security and the role played by an information security culture in an organization which influences the security policy and basis of information security awareness.
A GIS decision based model for determining the best path for connection to a power distribution network a case study of Kenya power and lighting company limited
(Strathmore University, 2008) Kinuthia, Augustine Muturi
The purpose of this study is to present a GIS based decision model for determining the best path for connection to a power distribution network. The model was derived from studies that consider the design of the power distribution system and the GIS field of network analysis along with the method used by KPLC for connecting premises to the distribution network. A digital map of the study area and the distribution network was generated and taking into account the distributors and distribution transformers the best path between the premises and the transformer was derived. In this study it is demonstrated that the distributors’ length and size and the distribution transformers’ capacity, load and location influence the connection of premises to the distribution network. The results also show that combining geospatial methods with the power distribution network enables engineers to visualize the spatial distribution of data in maps which yields better insight into the nature of the power distribution network.
A framework for evaluating ICT use in teacher education A case study of the primary teacher training colleges in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2008) Otieno, Oredo John
Teachers are under increasing pressure to use Information and Communication Technology to impart to students the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to survive in the 21st Century. The teaching profession needs to migrate from a teacher centered lecture based instruction, to a student-centered interactive learning environment. To attain this aspiration, an ICT enabled teacher education is fundamental. Towards this end, international and national authorities have been spending huge amounts of money to facilitate the implementation of ICT teacher education. This work attempts to evaluate the ueage of the available ICT facilities in Kenyan Public primary teacher colleges focusing ion the quantity of computer use,and the levels attained in terms of using ICT's support.
IT business value the case of kenyan insurance companies
(Strathmore University, 2008) Muthuri, Brettah Karimi
This research addresses the perpetual problem raised by many companies on how to improve management of value from Information Technology (IT). Evidence in academic and professional literature shows firms often perceive poor returns on IT investments overall. The scope of this research is restricted to management of value from IT so as to yield business value, over the business lifetime of IT-enabled initiatives, as expressed by current theory and as demonstrated in practice. This research also develops a matrix that companies can use to determine if their approaches to IT value will bring forth some business value or not. The theoretical focus pursues models or frameworks for IT value management that attend to all the phases in the business lifetime of an IT enabled initiative and tht also tightly connect IT value management with business strategy and activities. The objectives are to assist insurance companies in Kenya improve management of value from their IT investment and specifically, to contribute to the development of theoretical considerations and frameworks in academic research targeting IT value. The value of an IT system can be considered from a number of different perspectives. Specifically, the same IT system can be valued differently across different stakeholders, time periods, usage environments and other contextual factors. When measuring the value of an IT system, it is important to consider what value perspectives are relevant and how those perspectives affect the development of value metrics. An IT value assessment framework is proposed to aid in identifying such contextual factors and exploring how those factors affect the value that is realized from an IT system. The proposed framework takes a holistic view of the organization where IT is applied to ensure that value is achieved from the investments that companies make. The holistic view ensures that all aspects of the organization have been considered including the people. The proposed framework also goes ahead to detail activities, outputs, measurement metrics that organizations can put in place to ensure they IT investments are of value to the organization.
Exploratory research on IT projects : a case study of Kenya Pipeline Company.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Omondi, Sharon Akinyi
This study was an exploratory research to demonstrate the various constraints that plagued the IT projects. The Chaos Report of 2004, a survey carried out by the Standish Research group revealed that 75% of all IT projects fail. 75% of all items projects that begin, fail. IT projects are usually covered up, not rationalized to find out what went wrong and often the individuals involved are fired without getting to know the real cause of the projects failure therefore minimizing the chances of organizations learning from their mistakes. The study examined the SAP ERP implementation at KPC as its business case, the researcher’s demographic was the SAP implementation Project Team. There were two constraints identified. These constraints greatly influence the success or failure of a project, they are, Business Process Development (user requirements) and Change management Issues of which only 25% of business process development was carried out and up to 35% of related change management issues are yet to be resolved, even after the project’s closure. The use of performance measures is strongly emphasized to aid, business Process Development. This measure which was initially intended for organizations, to reengineer themselves into more effective and efficient lean enterprises, was recommended for adoption in Information Technology projects; in an attempt to gain the positive aspects that lean enterprise are identified with. The researcher adopted qualitative research style to adequately gauge the respondent’s opinions, proving that the mySAP ERP implementation at the Kenya Pipeline was a successful IT project.
A Secure and verifiable internet voting system using homomorphic scheme.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Omondi, Elijah
Institutions are changed with the actions of ensuring the rights of its members to participate in a democratic election, this is surpassing all the limitations of the traditional voting system, and the development of an electronic voting system serves as an attractive solution. Traditionally, cryptographic research has alerted on proving that the tally is the sum of all the ballots, and that the contents of a voter ballots remain secret. Cryptographic voting research considered the voter and the voting booth to be one entity. Voter's final ballot must be undisclosed and that cannot be accessed by a second party. Electors need the assurance that their votes have been cast and counted as intended. This research intends to identify and explore existing voting schemes, develop a secure voting and ranking system that uses computable and verifiable homomorphic scheme for both the votes and authorities. The voting system also allows secrete voting while maintaining the accuracy of election results and thus maintain the security requirement of and electronic voting system which includes privacy, completeness and verifiability.
Anomaly and misuse intrusion detection model : using neuro-fuzzy logic.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Kirwa, Solomon Cheruiyot
Intrusion detection systems are increasingly a key part of systems defense. Various approaches to intrusion detection are currently being used, but they are relatively ineffective. A major concern of existing anomaly intrusion detection approaches is that they tend to produce excessive false alarms. One reason for this is that the normal and abnormal behaviour of a monitored object can overlap or be very close to each other which makes it difficult to define a clear boundary between the two. This thesis presents a fuzzy logic model for misuse and access intrusion detection where instead of using crisp conditions, or fixed thresholds, fuzzy sets are used to represent the parameter space as defined by a human expert. This is implemented using a neuro-fuzzy system which is a high breed system combining
A Model for e-government in local authorities in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2009) Ogot, Benter A.
Many local authorities in Kenya lag behind in provision of good services to its citizens. It has been observed in other municipalities which provide satisfactory services to its citizens that c-government is an enabler for provision of good services. This research project aims at developing a framework for e-government to be used in local authorities in Kenya. This has been done by researching on e-government concepts and on how other cities in the world have used e-government to enhance service delivery and efficiency. Services offered by Kenyan municipalities are studied with the aim of identifying priority areas when developing c-government. There are 175 local authorities in Kenya. Three cities, three municipal councils, three town councils and three county councils are studied. These are examined in terms of the services they offer and the extent of IT usage in order to help identify the kinds of systems which are needed in the back office in order to give a guide as to what needs to be included in the municipality’s portals. The municipal ICT environment is also studied in order to determine what needs to be in place before the implementation of e-government and how to go about doing so. The research shows that most people come to the council to pay bills and that all the municipalities lack adequate infrastructure which needs to be addressed before c-government could be launched Out. An c-government framework has been developed which has at its foundation the infrastructure local authorities need to put in place. It has also been established that unlike the models for c-government for developed countries, mobile payment systems could be launched out at the initial stages after critical applications have been deployed as many people are more comfortable with the mobile technology rather than the internet. An implementation guideline has been produced to give a guided step on how to implement the framework. It is envisaged that this research would be useful to a municipality which would like to implement c-government but has no idea on where to start.
Strategic information technology investment decision making in corporate organizations' perspective.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Thuku, Lawrence Xavier Waweru
This study was conducted in three corporate organizations based in Nairobi namely, Standard Chartered Bank, Access Kenya and Institute of Advanced Technology. It was guided by Credit Union Return on Technology (CURT), the Garbage Can models and conducted survey and case study methodology. One of the plaguing issues in making strategic information Technology (IT) investment decisions is the difficulty in making the right kind of IT to invest in and the best way to evaluate the IT investments. Literature indicates that most organizations use traditional and budgeting tools such as the Return on Investment (ROI) Net Present Value (NPV) and Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) which do no measure the true value organizations. Despite the advent of new evaluations tools for IT investment such as Real Option Analysis (ROA) most IT executives are gathering anecdotal information and over rely on their experience, intuition and use of traditional capital budgeting tools to make key decisions on IT investments. This makes them unable to effectively make informed decisions regarding IT resources and investments. Therefore, this duty aims at proposing a general framework that combines both the traditional and modern methods in IT investment evaluation for strategic IT investment decision making. The study found out that IT plays more of supportive and strategic role (33.3%) rather than innovative role (16.7% with CEO, CFO and CIO being the key decision makers 55.6% who applied more economic based techniques with NPV being the most valuable technique (41.4%) rather than the analytic based techniques such as ROA which was (1005) not applicable in making IT investment decisions. Despite being aware of modern theories and concepts (43.3%), IT investment decision making was being hampered by factors such as lack of knowledge of existing theories and techniques that help in IT investment decision making and the over reliance of traditional financial techniques. In conclusion, the research findings highlight the importance of use of IT investment evaluation techniques in corporate organizations. It further proposes a general conceptual framework that combines both the traditional and current information Technology evaluation techniques to help make better strategic IT investment decisions.
Modeling a methodology for evaluation of wide area network technologies in Kenya.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Mirigi, Elias
Data communication Networks are increasingly becoming a permanent feature in modern business organizations. Local Area Networks (LANs) Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs) have gained so much use and popularity in recent years that it is almost impossible to imagine an organization without them. While Local Area Networks provide abundant and reliable bandwidth at higher costs and with increased security threats. Due to their increasingly critical role in the business operations and the high associated costs, it is important that organizations make careful and informed decisions when selecting a WAN technology to sue. In particular, this decision must take into account the specific and unique needs and constraints an organizations to ensure that it gets the best value for this investment. While organization are clear on their specifics need, they are faced with a challenge of deciding which technology best represents the closest match to its unique needs. The aim of this study is to model scientific methodology which organizations can use to assist them in making this important decision. The use of this methodology will ensure that they make an informed decision on a proven and conventionally used scientific methodology. This will translate into more effectiveness and efficiency and hence more competitiveness and profitability in their operations.
An exploratory study of internet service providers interconnection models in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2009) Makori, Esther Nyaboke
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in developing countries are incurring high operating costs. Chief among the costs is the telecommunications cost of getting traffic to other networks of the Internet. Developing countries local Internet traffic is billed at the same rate with internationally accessible content hence high operating cost for the ISPs. Internet traffic moving from one ISP to another ISP in the same developing country has to be routed overseas as a result; developing countries are suffering from Internet connectivity that is expensive and slow compared to developed countries. ISPs in Kenya have realized that infrastructure is one part of connectivity and without local content; costs of connectivity will remain high. This is because local Internet traffic traverses the expensive International links. Kenya has little local content and it should shift attention to local content generation and hosting as a way of pushing down Internet connectivity costs and keep local traffic local. Also if ISPs use the right interconnection models they can be able to reduce the high Internet cost, reduce latency and increase access speed. Using data collected from the local telecommunications industry in Kenya, the researcher established that: Internet bandwidth cost is high in Kenya due to lack of local content, poor regional access, lack of competitive choices and high regulatory fees. The criteria Internet Service Providers use in choosing peering members include: geographical coverage, minimum capacity requirements, symmetry of traffic exchanged and proximity of exchange points. Savings increase when the ratio of local traffic increases and savings decline when the ratio of international traffic increases. In this study the researcher has explored the Peering and Transit ISP interconnection models and determined that the Peering model is preferred when there is high ratio of local traffic to international traffic while the Transit model is preferred when there is high ratio of international traffic to local traffic. Even if fiber optic is operational in Kenya, Internet cost will remain to be high unless Kenya starts local content generation.
Determining continuity of quality in e-government systems : a Kenyan government perspective. Thesis
(Strathmore University, 2009) Kang'a, Samuel G.
This research set to investigate and identify ways through which the Kenyan government would achieve a sustainable quality as it embarks on e-government systems adoption and implementation. The main focus of the research was the skill and expertise in the private sector, which goes unexploited the government on the basis of its interaction with the private sector. This research looks into ways the two parties would be involved in a long-term partnership guided by a framework to ensure that the quality of information systems remains sustainable. The research identified that there is an existing 90% involvement of the private sector in the development of the government’s information system a fact that justifies the possible partnership of the two parities. Besides, the research identified that attained quality in the implementation of Information Systems in the public sector has been as a result of existing frameworks. This justified the utilization of a framework to determine how quality in the e-government systems would be sustained. The information collected was used to come up with a framework that was derived from frameworks employed elsewhere in the developed countries, that would ensure that attained quality in e-government systems remained sustainable while at the same time be realized in the upcoming systems.
An Assessment of security in critical information systems used by universities in Kenya.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Mwathi, David Gitonga
n Kenya, rarely are cases concerning data security breaches in universities reported. This does not mean that there are no such cases nor does it mean that the information systems used by the universities are secure. Further, no study has been carried to determine the extent of security in the information systems used by universities in Kenya. Occurrence of a security breach is unpredictable and so informed defence against them is important. It is against this backdrop that this study was seeking to establish the extent of security in critical university information systems in Kenya and design a security model that can be adopted by the universities. The study adopted a descriptive based approach with the use of primary and secondary data sources. Literature published in the area was reviewed and before conducing the research. Collected data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics. Based on the findings and reviewed literature, a security model was developed. Findings show that the universities are ready to support mission critical services with most of them having stable networks (83%), firewall (86%), intrusion detection software (81%), data backup facilities (75%) as well as UPS and generators (79.55%). However, security remains a challenge; most security breaches reported are due to inadequate technical safeguards (27%), insufficient user training (32%) and lack of comprehensive formal information system security policy (32%). The research concludes that indeed university information systems are vulnerable to a significant extent and that security breaches are inevitable in the prevailing conditions. The cost of security breach is high and traditional approaches to security are no longer feasible. There is therefore a need a for a comprehensive and integrated information systems security framework.
The framework of an e-learning site for secondary schools in Nairobi.
(strathmore University, 2009) Omondi, Stephen Kennedy
The demand for secondary school education in Nairobi and Kenya as a whole has been growing rapidly due to the exponential population growth witnessd since independence from the colonial power great britain in 1963 and, for the case of Nairobi, the increasing rate of rural-urban migration.This has caused a major strain on an education system that is already dogged by issues of ever changing course content, huge government expenditure on education, queries on the quality of teacher training and archaic methods of knowledge management and communication.Questions are being asked as to whether the current education system, 8-4-4, is preparing the country to meet its goals and objectives. With the premise the researcher embarked on a project that revealed that though the key players in the secondary school education system have the will to embrace modern methods of instruction and knowledge management, Information Technology (IT) is being used merely for routine basic processes such as word processing and therefore missing out on its true potential value.It was also discovered that the teachers teaching science subjects and mathematics which can take advantage of this technology have themselves very low computer training (41 percent being certificate holders and a shocking 15 percent having no formal education in computers). The researcher therefore developed a framework of an e-learning website to make secondary education more exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional,extended, excellent, and educational in addition to being electronic.This was achieved by doing a thorough research of the content, technology and services applicable in Nairobi.The researcher went a head and tested this framework by designing a prototype website (www.e-learning.kenya) made up of a collection of related web pages, images, videos and other digital assets written in HTML and demonstration data stored in a database using Microsoft Access.
An Analysis of ICT-based e-learning assistive technologies for blind students : a case study of Kenyatta University.
(Strathmore University, 2009) Mbui, Samuel Mwangi
The power of ICT in facilitating learning has increased in the recent past. ICT has enabled many people to access educational resources. In particular ICT has enabled e-learning programs in many Universities the world over. However ICT based e-learning poses accessibility issues with the blind students, who cannot access e-learning resources through the conventional methods used by the sighted students.E-learning platforms such as Ilearn, Moodle, eXe or WikiEducator, have been commonly used to post e-learning resources. Several assistive technologies such as JAWS sreen reader, the Dolphin pen, and braille display software have been developed to aid the blind students access e-learning resources. However, it has not been established whether these assistive technologies can help the blind to access all educational resources posted on e-learning platforms. The study therefore analyzed the ICT-based assistive technologies that were being used in Kenyatta University (KU) to incorporate the blind students in e-learning programs, the effectiveness of these assistive technologies and identified technological challenges faced when incorporating the blind students in the E-learning program.The study also proposed an abstract framework for addressing the challenges identified.The study adopted a diagnostic case study at KU targeting the academic staff in special education department, ICT resource centre for visually impaired and the blind students. The study established that most blind students pursued courses that were not their favorite due to the inaccessibility issues posed by assistive technologies.This limited the level of education to which the blind could achieve. The study concludes that the available assistive technology was not adequate to develop the academic potentials of the blind fully.The researcher recommended the development of an assistive technology that could access and display coded 3-dimensional graphics that could be interpreted through touch. The study suggested a framework to develop that technology.

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