The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has launched the 2026 National Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a call on Nigerians to adopt basic cyber hygiene practices as digital threats become more sophisticated.
The month-long campaign, themed “Together for a Safer Cyberspace,” is aimed at strengthening public awareness and encouraging individuals, businesses and institutions to take greater responsibility for protecting their digital assets.
NITDA said the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence and automated technologies has expanded the cyber threat landscape beyond conventional phishing attacks, with emerging risks including AI-driven social engineering, deepfake impersonation, voice cloning and fraudulent QR-code attacks, known as quishing.
The agency advised Nigerians to use strong and unique passwords for different accounts and consider secure password managers for generating and storing complex passphrases.
It also urged users to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on personal, professional and financial accounts to provide an additional layer of protection against unauthorised access.
NITDA stressed the importance of keeping smartphones, computers and other connected devices updated, noting that timely installation of security patches and operating system updates can help protect against known vulnerabilities.
The agency warned Nigerians never to disclose sensitive financial credentials, including One-Time Passwords (OTPs), PINs and online banking login details, regardless of who requests them.
With the growing use of AI tools, NITDA also advised users to exercise caution when interacting with public AI models and unfamiliar online platforms, particularly where sensitive personal, financial or corporate information is involved.
It further urged Nigerians to verify suspicious links, attachments and unsolicited requests before interacting with them, especially those accompanied by urgent messages, synthetic audio or deepfake videos.
NITDA said responsible social media use is equally important, warning that excessive disclosure of personal information online could provide criminals with material for targeted social engineering attacks.
The agency also recommended regular offline and cloud backups of important data to enable individuals and organisations to recover quickly from ransomware attacks, device failures and other disruptions.
NITDA said its Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team remains committed to providing citizens and organisations with the knowledge, tools and frameworks needed to prevent, detect and respond to cyber incidents.
The agency encouraged Nigerians to follow official cybersecurity updates from @NITDANigeria and report cyber incidents through the Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team at www.cerrt.ng, via cerrt@nitda.gov.ng, or on +234 817 877 4580.
NITDA said building a safer digital environment requires collective action as Nigeria’s economy, public services and everyday activities become increasingly dependent on digital technologies.