EARLIER THIS year hackers targeted Senegal’s agency for issuing passports and identity cards. The attackers claim to have stolen sensitive data from the west African country, including biometric(生物识别的) information and immigration records. The authorities told citizens that their data were safe. But some of the loot(赃物；战利品) seemingly ended up on the dark web(暗网). It was not the only successful recent cyber-attack on the state. In May, criminals targeted the national treasury. Last year hackers demanded a ransom(赎金) of $10m after breach(入侵；违反)ing the tax authority.
今年早些时候，黑客攻击了塞内加尔负责签发护照和身份证的机构。攻击者声称从这一西非国家窃取了敏感数据，包括生物识别信息和移民记录。当局告诉公民他们的数据是安全的。但部分赃物似乎流入了暗网。这并非近期针对该国政府的唯一一次成功网络攻击。今年5月，犯罪分子瞄准了国家财政部。去年，黑客在入侵税务机关后索要1000万美元赎金。
Senegal is not alone. As African governments digitise(数字化) government services and grow their national-identity databases, they are struggling to protect citizens’ data. Incidents such as the recent discovery of a vulnerability in PHP, a programming language commonly used by governments, show that the problem is not limited to Africa.(近期在政府常用编程语言PHP中发现漏洞等事件表明，这一问题并不局限于非洲。) But the continent has less money and talent to bolster(加强；支持) its cyber-security. And as artificial intelligence (AI) expands attackers’ toolkits(攻击者的工具库), African governments will urgently need to find ways to secure their systems.
塞内加尔并非个例。随着非洲各国政府推进政务服务数字化并扩大国家身份数据库，它们在保护公民数据方面却力不从心。近期在政府常用编程语言PHP中发现漏洞等事件表明，这一问题并不局限于非洲。但非洲大陆用于加强网络安全的资金和人才都更少。而随着人工智能（AI）不断扩充攻击者的工具库，非洲各国政府将迫切需要找到保护其系统的方法。
Their problems often stem from(源于；由……造成) efforts to improve public services. Of the 800m people worldwide who have no legal proof of who they are, more than half live in sub-Saharan Africa.(全球有8亿人没有合法的身份证明，其中超过一半生活在撒哈拉以南非洲。) Without a formal identity many find it impossible to join welfare programmes or health-insurance scheme(计划；方案)s, send children to school, own land, open bank accounts or activate sim cards. Countries like Uganda, where almost 80% of people have a digital ID, can now more easily track their people and close gaps in provision(供给；服务提供). (Around a decade ago fewer than 10% of Ugandans had some legal proof of their identities.) A digitally savvy(精通的；有见识的) state is better equipped to spot fraud, collect taxes and safeguard elections(保障选举安全).
这些问题往往源于改善公共服务的努力。全球有8亿人没有合法的身份证明，其中超过一半生活在撒哈拉以南非洲。没有正式身份，许多人就无法加入福利项目或医疗保险计划、送孩子上学、拥有土地、开设银行账户或激活SIM卡。像乌干达这样近80%人口拥有数字身份证的国家，如今能更容易地追踪国民并填补服务缺口。（大约十年前，拥有某种合法身份证明的乌干达人不足10%。）一个精通数字技术的国家更有能力发现欺诈、征税和保障选举。