The Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) strongly believes that Nigeria is currently vulnerable to cyberattacks.
According to the association’s president, Remi Afon, corporate organisations and government establishments are yet to fully realise and be prepared for imminent dangers of cyber threats. He said cyberattacks are becoming more dynamic and sophisticated, thus need to build a resilient cyber defence system for the country.
“A recent report by Kaspersky showed that North Korean hacking operation linked to Lazarus group targeted banks in 18 countries of which Nigeria was among the targets. Clearly, this has shown that Nigeria is not immune to cyber threats. The vast scope of Cyber threats we face today makes a compelling case for legislation that will compel organisations to have minimum cyber security controls in place and also mandate them to make full disclosure once they are breached. This will assist the nation in understanding attack vectors we face and aid security experts in the implementation of adequate security controls,” CSEAN said in a statement.
“The global cost of cybercrime will reach $6 trillion by 2021, a threefold increase from the 2015 estimate of $3 trillion according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Unfortunately, over 80 per cent of organisations and government agencies in Nigeria believe that since they have not suffered a major cyber-attack, there is no need for security to be implemented in their business plan.
“Cyber threats and attacks are becoming commonplace, sophisticated and damaging. Governments, organisations and individuals are faced with an evolving complex threat landscape. State and non-state actors are capitalising on vulnerabilities to launch attacks. Through workshops, plenary and breakout sessions, Cyber Secure Nigeria 2017 will prepare participants to defend their networks and operations against growing sophistication of cyber-attacks by Building Resilient Cyber Defence.”