HTTPS,. Ng adoption to increase this year- Web4Africa

Nigeria’s web hosting and domain name system (DNS) industry has been tipped to witness massive growth in the year 2017.

Sunday Folayan, president, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), said his organisation is working on the possibility of hosting a local version of HTTPS to boost the country’s internet security and adoption.

He said, “NiRA is working on hosting a local version of HTTPS in Nigeria to boost the country’s internet presence and distinct operations. We look forward to a time it will become obligatory for businesses operating on .ng to adopt only HTTPS”, Folayan said while addressing Journalists in Lagos recently.

Similarly, Mr. Oluniyi Ajao, manager, Web4Africa told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek in Lagos that demand for both HTTPS and .ng will increase geometrically due to businesses now consider local hosting of data as beneficial.

“Generally, it is what the market demands that will be offered. Sometimes, technological advancement does demand for massive changes. We offer HTTPs. The reasons for adopting HTTPs are increasing daily. Recently, Google said they would give websites that are on HTTPs a higher ranking. That inspired a lot of people to adopt HTTPs.

“Few weeks ago Chrome and Firefox started showing a warning website that doesn’t have HTTPs. So, I believe that because the internet is evolving the need to have HTTPs is beginning to increase and more people now understand what it stands for. I believe the adoption will increase in the country (Nigeria) as well,” Ajao said.

Nodding in agreement, Dr Chris Nwannenna, former president, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) called on the apps developer community and website hosting companies to lay much emphasis on HTTPs, adding that global IT trends entail that the security protocol is much required for safety.

He said that irrespective of pricing differences, it has always been a better option to be secured online while surfing any internet. He said that e-commerce platforms or online retailers must prioritise HTTPS to ensure visitors to the sites are protected.

On .ng domain name, NiRA reported that the active domains in the country in 2016 reached 76,907.

“Gradually, due to the efficiency it brings, we are beginning to adapt and increase our interests in technology and embrace the internet, because email is still better than writing a letter. For historical reasons, the number of .ng domain names is not as high as .com in Nigeria, but I believe it will change.