Cybersecurity Threat: A Growing Issue In Nigeria – NCC Research

Cybersecurity Threat: A Growing Issue In Nigeria – NCC Research

Since the start of 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission has issued at least six warnings about cyberattacks.

This is brought on by the increase in both local and international cyberattacks. According to research by Ms Funmilola Odumuboni, Senior Manager, Cyber Risk Services, Deloitte, a cyberattack occurs every 39 seconds, and cybercrimes have surged by over 300% since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic.

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Numerous studies have demonstrated that the pandemic encouraged digitalisation and technology adoption, which in turn increased Internet usage while also providing a fertile field for cyberattacks.

The NCC estimates that by December 2020, data consumption will have climbed from 123,648 TB in December 2019 to 205,880.4 TB. According to a Sophos report, ransomware struck 71% of Nigerian businesses in 2021, and 44% of those businesses had to pay a ransom to get their data recovered.

Cybersecurity Threat: A Growing Issue In Nigeria – NCC Research

According to a new Threat Intelligence Report by Check Point Research, businesses in Nigeria receive roughly 2,308 attacks every week across all industry sectors.

Also, according to the report, 62% of Nigerian organizations were the targets of attacks during a six-month period that gave cybercriminals remote control over equipment and the sensitive data they contained. According to the report, emails were the most common point of origin for 60% of all intrusions.

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The NCC established an incident response facility to deal with cybercrime incidents near the end of 2021 in order to combat the escalating cases of cybercrime.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated during the opening of the Centre for Computer Security Incident Response that the pandemic’s increased Internet usage had resulted in an increase in cyber incidents and criminal activity.

Therefore, the commission acknowledges that constant and coordinated attention is needed to protect Internet users as well as the Critical National Information Infrastructure and maintain their resilience given the incidents’ borderless nature and widespread impact.

Cybersecurity Threat: A Growing Issue In Nigeria – NCC Research

The four primary focuses of the CSIRT’s services will be monitoring, incident management, communication, and alert and warning.

As the centre’s operations expand, the equipment for handling these four areas will be scaled up and enlarged in order to improve the digital economy and make sure it benefits Nigerian citizens greatly.

Cyber dangers that have been identified range from those that aim to gather private data from mobile devices to those that can hack and steal vehicles.

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After Yanluowang threat actors used a stolen employee credential to access Cisco’s network, the NCC-CSIRT issued a warning to organizations and employees in a recent alert.

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It urged staff members of businesses to enable multi-factor authentication, use strong passwords for each account, and use strong passwords to protect against ransomware attacks.

Cybersecurity Threat: A Growing Issue In Nigeria – NCC Research

The first step in combating ransomware attacks, it stated, is to make sure that staff are using strong, unique passwords for every account and turning on multi-factor authentication (2FA) wherever it is supported.

“User education is crucial in preventing this kind of attack or any other attacks of a similar nature. This includes making sure that staff members are aware of the official channels through which support staff will contact users so that they can spot fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information. Organizations need to regularly backup their systems.

Nigeria loses roughly $500 million a year to cybercrime, according to the NCC.

Nigeria was listed as the 16th country by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on its list of nations most affected by Internet crime in 2020, according to Deloitte’s “Nigeria Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 (January 2022)”.

It stated, “Even though some of these crimes go unreported, it is no longer news that cybercrime is on the rise in Nigeria. According to the FBI’s 2020 Internet crime report, Nigeria was rated 16th among the nations in the world that were most impacted by Internet crime.

“These crimes have costs that organizations must bear. A man was detained by the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police Force in 2021 for allegedly breaking into a bank’s server and stealing N1.87 billion.

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Cybersecurity Threat: A Growing Issue In Nigeria – NCC Research

Although cybercrime is becoming more sophisticated, measures to stop it in the country, according to experts in the field, are essentially nonexistent.

ICT specialist and Senior Partner of e86 Limited, Olugbenga Odeyemi, commented on the NCC’s escalating cyberattack alert, saying, “We’re observing more cyber-attacks and this is tied to the progress we see in the area of technology.

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More companies are starting to operate online, remotely, and with technology infrastructures that were unwelcome just a few years ago. Attacks are increasing in number and sophistication as a result of this expansion.

He added recommendations for people’s roles, saying, “Personals should keep learning about cyber security.

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“The attacks vary, change frequently, and are increasingly sophisticated. Be cautious while sharing information online and be cautious when clicking links. If the information seems too good to be true, confirm it by seeing if the same information is presented on well-known online news sources.

“Neither CBN nor your bank will call you unless they want to extend an invitation to visit the bank. An individual’s ability to avoid falling victim increases with level of knowledge.

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