Report Suggests Ways to Address Cyber Security Threats

• Report Suggests Ways to Address Cyber Security Threats

The 2016 Nigeria Cyber Security Report has suggested various ways and what should be the priority for Nigeria in order to ameliorate the threats associated with cyber security, which cost Nigerian businesses $550 million in 2016.

The report, which many Nigerians in both the public and private sector believe will address the issue of cyber security in Nigeria and across most African countries, was published by Kenya based Serianu in collaboration with Nigeria’s Demadiur Systems, with contributions from various cyber security experts across Nigeria.

Analysing the report recently at a cyber security forum in Lagos, the President of Demadiur Systems, Mr. Ikechuchu Nnamani, said since more than half, which is about 56.3 per cent of Nigerian businesses remain exposed to cyber-attacks, the possible ways through which Nigeria can reduce the menace is to fortify public and private ICT infrastructure and services.

Other modalities that could be adopted, according to him, include enhancing the security competencies of technology users and ICT security practitioners, developing a vibrant ICT security ecosystem with a focus on people, process and technology that must be localised.

“Cyber Security is a huge threat to businesses in Nigeria. For us to tame it, we must develop a vibrant ICT security ecosystem and work closely with international counterparts and also encourage cross border collaboration with Africans and global partners,” Nnamani said.

The report also noted that it is evident that attackers are performing more targeted attacks against specific members in organisations, stressing that it is crucial for organisations to develop and implement a security awareness training programme, which could be done in-house or outsourced to qualified service providers.

Meanwhile, for private sector organisations, the report stated that with the numerous attacks occurring as a result of patches and susceptibility to malware, it is critical for local organisations to focus on developing vulnerability and patch management programme with their institutions.

“In this era where the threat landscape is evolving and threat vector increasing by the day, there is a need for maintaining an ongoing awareness of information security, vulnerabilities and threats to support organisational risk management decisions,” he said.

Though, the 2016 Nigeria Cyber Security report is the first edition, Nnamani disclosed that the report would be yearly. He said the 2017 edition is already being researched and would be published and launched by November this year.