The 2022 Cyber Secure Nigeria conference will hold in Abuja next week June 21-22, 2022, at the CBN International Training Institute, Maitama Abuja with a special focus aimed at tackling insecurity in Nigeria.
The organiser of the annual conference, Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) announced this in a virtual press conference yesterday. The theme of this year’s conference is “Cybersecurity: An imperative in tackling insecurity in Nigeria”.
Speaking during the press conference, the President of the association, Mr. Remi Afon, noted that with criminal elements proving to be both resilient and adaptive to traditional security techniques and countermeasures, it is about time Nigeria as a country takes a technological approach to resolving the overwhelming security challenges.
“You will all agree with me that the security threat landscape in Nigeria has evolved rapidly; terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and unknown gunmen attacks are increasing in number and sophistication. Thus, the right thing to do is to go technological in our approach,” he said.
He cited the March 28 Abuja-Kaduna train attack and the suspected terrorist attack in a church in Owo, Ondo state where more than 40 people were believed to have been killed as a pointer to the fact that criminals are now targeting critical national infrastructures in the process of killing innocent people.
He believes that criminal elements cannot succeed in their attacks without the use of information and communications technologies (ICT), specifically, the use of mobile phones, the internet, and other electronic media they sometimes use to record their activities via video to pass their message across.
Thus, an effective counter-surveillance program by the government will increase the chance of intervening or detecting a threat as soon as possible. GPS tracking, Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Forensic Investigation, Lawful Interception of electronic communication as well as the use of social media to collect open-source information and digital evidence can be proactively deployed to stem the tide of insecurity.
“We need to be ahead of criminal elements through an intelligence-based system. Security is a shared responsibility therefore an effective community process should be in place, where citizens can quickly and promptly report suspicious activities in real-time. There is a need for an increase in public awareness campaigns to effect behavioral change and encourage sharing of intelligence on potential threats and collaboration to find lasting solutions. Funding of terrorism, through traditional financial systems, or cryptocurrency can also be tracked and traced with the appropriate tool and actionable intelligence from financial institutions,” he argued further.
He also as an established and leading voice in the cybersecurity space, CSEAN seeks to open a discussion on how cybersecurity can be used as a supplementary tool to address these challenges during the Cyber Secure Nigeria Conference.
Meanwhile, Miss Elizabeth Kolade, the 2022 Conference Committee Chairperson has said the 2-day Cyber Secure Nigeria conference aims to prepare participants through workshops, plenary, technical, academic, and breakout sessions on the role of cybersecurity and ICT can play in mitigating Nigeria’s security challenges.
She stated that the conference will be hybrid and will be packed with rich security and cybersecurity topics to be delivered by globally renowned experts, strengthening partnerships between domestic stakeholders – public and private – to encourage the sharing of intelligence on potential threats and collaboration to find lasting solutions.
Specifically, topics to be discussed include Cybersecurity Governance, Protecting Nigeria’s Digital Economy – Role Of Government, Legal And Regulatory Approach To Cybersecurity In Nigeria, Cyber Intelligence As A Tool For Enhancing National Security and Fake News And Misinformation.
Others are Cyber Defence Strategies, Web 3.0 And Its Cybersecurity Implications, Cyber Warfare & Terrorism, Emerging Technologies & Cybersecurity, Blockchain Technology and Foreign Policy And Cyber Security.
Also, the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osibanjo has been invited as the Special Guest of Honour while Catriona Laing CB, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, will deliver the Keynote Address.
Other speakers include Ajijola Abdul-Hakeem, Global Cybersecurity Resource; Confidence Staveley, ED, Cybersafe Foundation; Adedeji Owonibi, Blockchain Professional and Entrepreneur; Andrew Agbo-Madaki, Cybersecurity and Communication Professional; Tanwa Ashiru, CEO, Bulwark Intelligence Solutions; Dr. Nathaniel Allen, Assistant Professor for Security Studies; Raliyah Adamu (Cyber Plural); Hamzat Lateef, COO & Technical Lead, Security Engineering and Michael Fasere, Cloud Security/Cyber Security Advisor.
Follow the link here to see how to participate at CSEAN Cyber Secure Nigeria 2022.
