The Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of the Nigerian Financial Institutions (CCISONFI) has emphasised the need for vigilance in the financial sector to deal with disruptive cyber threats.
Chairman of CCISONFI, Festus Amede, stated this during the committee’s yearly conference in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with the theme, ‘Cyber Resilience in a Disruptive World’.
Amede told the gathering of chief information security officers of financial institutions, government agencies, security agencies, cybersecurity organisations, cybersecurity software solution providers and related vendors that cyber disruption had become the new normal.
He, however, said that it could be an opportunity to rethink “how we secure our systems, train our people, update our processes and policies, and partner better with other financial and security agencies.”
Advocating cybersecurity inclusion in Nigeria’s national educational curriculum, Amede said: “The next generation of defenders is already here and just needs the right tools and mentorship.”
Chief Technical Officer of United States-based cybersecurity software company, Everfox, Shibu Thomas, in a paper presented at the conference, stressed the importance of robust security measures to check threats in the global financial and security sectors, citing the rapid evolution of cyber threats and attacks.
The paper, entitled ‘From Trust to Threat: Navigating Insider Risks Amid Global Instability,’ canvassed collaboration and innovation to stay ahead of cybercriminals and resist infiltrators.
The cybersecurity expert disclosed that Everfox introduced a purpose-built software solutions for financial institutions, government agencies and the military to check insider threats and attacks
Director of Payment System Policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Musa Jimoh, emphasised the need for vigilance and cybersecurity, noting that cybercriminals were learning new techniques to penetrate vulnerable points.
He said cybersecurity “is something we have to make part of our DNA and live by it in our homes, offices, and social communities. We have to be mindful of the environment we find ourselves in.”
According to him, the strength of any country is its financial and military data, saying: “Once those data sets are compromised, you’ve lost the strength and potency of your sovereignty.
“The CBN tries to provide the regulatory environment that enables banking activities to fight cybercriminals. We have a lot of regulations, guidelines, and frameworks to nudge every participant in our financial ecosystem, in our payment system, to look in a certain direction and protect themselves.”
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of Infodata Professional Services, a cybersecurity software company, Chukwuma Udensi, said there couldn’t have been a better time for CCISONFI to choose the theme because the “bad guys” are on the prowl seeking systems to disrupt, threaten or attack.
In his presentation, the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Nigeria Police Force Cyber Crime Centre, Ifeanyi Uche, called for closer collaboration between the Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) of Financial Institutions and the police in the fight against cyber threats and cyber criminals.
