A 2017 Cyber Security Report has disclosed that Insider threat emanating from the staff and management of organisations topped the cost of cyber crime activities in Nigeria with $194 million, representing 30 percent out of the $649 million the report claimed was lost to cyber crime in 2017.
The report, ‘Demystifying the Africa Cyber Security Poverty Line,’ which was again presented today at the organised E-payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN) 9th Annual Payment Systems Conference, also disclosed that over 90 percent of Nigerian organizations are operating below security poverty line. This, the report finds is significantly exposing them to cyber security risks.
In its second edition, the report is the brainchild of Kenya based Serianu Limited in partnership with the United States International University (USIU Africa) and Demadiur Systems Limited.
Presenting the report today at the conference, which attracted mostly stakeholders from the financial industry and security agencies in Nigeria, the Project Manager at Demadiur Systems Limited, Mrs. Sylvia Ntia noted that attacks on computer systems (unathorised access malware) in Nigeria came second in terms of cost of cyber security activities with $130 million, representing 20 percent.
Other breakdowns of the losses, according to Ntia indicate that while social engineering and identity theft cost Nigeria $97million, representing 15 percent, email spam and phishing cost the country $78million, representing 12 percent.
Other activities include data exfitration, which is responsible for $65 million cost, representing 10 percent. Online fraud scam and ramsomeware came bottom with $52million, representing 8 percent and $33million representing 5 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, the annual report has recommended what it called Top 10 cybersecurity priorities for 2019. They are Database security, privileged user management, patch management, unstructured data management and endpoint security.
Others are employee security awareness, vendor/third party security, the board’s changing role, security architecture/engineering skill set and continuous monitoring.
The report covers the countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Mauritius, Botswana, Lesotho and Uganda. It highlights the latest cyber threats, trends, insights, and other potentially harmful business risks affecting organizations operating in Nigeria and across the Africa continent. It is a comprehensive report draws from a wide range of internal and external security studies research to uncover and explain the top trends that are impacting regional organizations. The 2018 edition of the report is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2019.