Interview: Lack of regulation responsible for Nigeria’s vulnerability to cyber attacks

In this interaction with ITPulse, a cybersecurity expert, Mr. Remi Afon attributed high vulnerability of Nigeria to cyber attack to lack of adequate legal framework and regulation. He also disclosed the essence of this year’s Cyber Secure Nigeria Conference.

What is the focus of this year’s cyber secure conference?

The focus of this year’s conference is on implementing cybersecurity and data privacy practices in Nigeria. We realise that cybersecurity has not been given adequate attention by organisations in Nigeria, which made them more vulnerable to cyber attacks. The theme of this year’s edition is ‘Implemeting CyberSecurity and Data Privacy Practices in Nigeria.’

As an expert, what is your rating of the security of Nigeria’s cyber space?

Cybersecurity is still poor in Nigeria. Government and organisations, be it small, medium or large are not taking adequate measures to protect data they hold. The world’s most valuable resource is no longer Oil, but data. Today, data is used to power technological transformation like artificial intelligence, automation and advanced predictive analytics.

Nigeria and indeed Africa is seen to be very vulnerable for cybercrime activities.  What do you think is responsible for this?

The high vulnerability of Nigeria to cyber attack can be attributed to lack of adequate legal framework and regulation to compel organisations to take adequate measures to protect data they hold and also have minimum cybersecurity controls in place. Also, there is a lack of public-private partnership in dealing with cybersecurity issues in Nigeria. Cybersecurity should be a shared responsibility. Lastly, we do not have a body that oversees cybersecurity. Nigeria is due for a National Cyber Security body that will be responsible for supporting critical organisations in Nigeria; public and private sectors and the general public. When cyber security incidents occur, such a body should be saddled with the responsibility of providing an effective incident response to minimise harm to Nigeria.

Nigeria’s telecom regulator, the NCC seems to be pushing the effort to address cybersecurity to telecom service providers.  Do you think that is the right move?

The Nigerian Communications Commission should be commended for taking that move. It is a step in the right direction and I must say that NCC is one of the leading organisations supporting cybersecurity drive in Nigeria.

Part of the resolution at a recent event aimed at addressing cybersecurity is that Service Providers should install firewalls on their networks. What do you think?

Installing firewalls is one of the measures that should be taken and other numerous measures too to ensure that controls are in place to avoid data breaches. Service Providers must implement cybersecurity practices and take adequate care to protect their infrastructure.

In your expert view, what do you think can be done to reduce the influence of cybercrime in Nigeria?

The government needs to implement effective cybersecurity strategy, policy and awareness initiatives to curtail the rise in cybercrime in Nigeria. Organisations need to take cybersecurity seriously, not doing so might result in dare consequences of cyber attack like financial loss and repetitional damage.