NCC partners security agencies, NSA, others to combat cybercrimes

Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), said that it was partnering security agencies, Mohammed Babagana Monguno, National security Adviser, and others towards combating the menace of cybercrimes in the country.

The Commission also added that with the introduction of advanced technology into Telecoms business, the negative impact of cyber crimes which had led to the loss of private information, monies and lives of Telecoms Consumers would soon be a thing of the past.

Mrs. Felicia N. Onwuegbuchulam, director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission who stated this at the 105th Edition of the Consumer Outreach Programme, COP, at Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki with the theme: “Mitigating Effects of Cybercrimes: The Role of Telecom Consumers” added that: “without consumers becoming aware of cyber crime trends and making efforts to ensure safe use of connected devices, cybercriminals will continue to take advantage of their ignorances.”

She said: “Cybercrime gives big concern to the commission. People lose their money, people their personal identity, people lose their privacies and on the process, they are either duped or even harmed or killed.

“The war against cybercrime may not have been won but we are doing everything humanly possible to stem the tide, it is an ongoing thing. As they are coming up, you are addressing them and new ones are coming up.

“The greatest achievement in this fight is empowering the consumers to understand that these problems exist, what they are, what they supposed to do, how they can mitigate it when it occurs. We are putting in place technology that will also address the issue on the technical side.

“So, we are looking at this issue from the technical aspect, looking at it from the regulatory aspect and looking at it from the consumer perspective so that collectively all of us will tackle this menace”.

On his part, Alhaji Ismail Adedigba, Deputy Director Consumer Affairs Bureau of the commission, said the commission has initiated a process to establish an Internet Industry Code of Practice for internet providers in the country as a result of unprecedented increase in the usage of Internet-based solutions and services.

“The Internet Code is a regulatory intervention expected to secure the country’s cyber space against imminent threats from cyber attackers as well as addressing issues such as online child protection, privacy and data protection among others,” he said.