‘How Nigeria, others can reduce $4b regional cybercrime losses’
15 October 2024 |
4:10 am
To prevent Africa’s $4 billion yearly losses to cyber criminals, governments and businesses in the region have been charged to collaborate, create awareness and develop resilient human and technology capabilities.
• Kaduna seeks collaboration among govt entities
• Dangote warns entities to prepare for attacks
To prevent Africa’s $4 billion yearly losses to cyber criminals, governments and businesses in the region have been charged to collaborate, create awareness and develop resilient human and technology capabilities.
These were part of the submissions of experts at a panel session on tackling rising cybercrimes, yesterday, at the ongoing GITEX Global Technology Expo and exhibition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Head, Cybersecurity Division, International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Switzerland, Orhan Osmani, described cyber threats and attacks as global challenges that left no region in peace. Osmani said all efforts should be channelled to collaboration among countries, tasking governments and businesses on huge cyber defence.
While the global loss to cybercrime is expected to hit about $10.5 trillion yearly by 2025, as of 2021, the Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report estimated the financial impact of cybercrime in the region to exceed $4 billion yearly, approximately 10 per cent of Africa’s total gross Domestic Product (GDP). It noted that the challenge only grew in volume, impact and complexity since then.
All hands, Osmani said, must be deck through collaboration to stem the tide.Taking a cue from Osmani, Vice President of Cyber Security Affairs, National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Egypt, Dr Ahmed Hafez, said each country should take care of its neighbour, which could be the weakest link to attacks. Hafez stressed the need to get Africa’s young population constructively engaged to prevent them from becoming tools in the hands of criminals.
“Cybersecurity is about the people, not the technology. If the people are constructively engaged and have access to the right information, attacks would be mitigated. All nations must build cyber resilience,” he stated.
As a panellist, Group Chief Information Officer, Dangote Industries, Prasanna Burri, urged people to always prepare for hackers, as it is just a matter of time.
Burri said the manufacturing sector faced predominantly phishing attacks, where attackers would want to steal information, followed by hacking into firms’ applications that were mostly online.
According to him, the way the security and software stacks have been developed, hatched and managed, there is always vulnerability out there. “There is always going to be a breach; it is just a matter of time. But we must do all within our power to be resilient and have our drills ready, prepare our team, and infrastructure for disaster resilience for adequate backups.”
On what the government can do to protect cyberspace, the Dangote Group chief admitted that governments were doing reasonably what they could under the circumstances. “But they need to throw in more resources, investments, awareness and capacity building to be more resilient in regulating and mandating a certain degree of resilience. Regulators must step up adequately to enforce some rules, including International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certifications.”
On his part, Senior Special Assistant to the Kaduna State Governor on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Shuaibu Bello, there should be more collaboration between the public and private sectors.
Bello, who said Kaduna had been attacked many times, noted that the state partnered the private sector to establish Command Control Centres, where threats were monitored and nipped in the bud.
According to him, Kaduna has aligned its policies with the Federal Government to advance cyber security. He disclosed that the state “is focusing on digital literacy programmes” to inform the public on the dangers of cybercrime, saying awareness remained the first line of defence.
Head of Cybersecurity, UAE Government, Dr Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti, said aside collaborations within and outside the country, there must be a resilient cybersecurity strategy.
Canvassing cyber leadership, which he said was lacking globally, Al-Kuwaiti called for cyber legislation in Africa and across the globe. The Guardian checks show that African governments are making efforts to tackle cybercrime, as, so far, 33 of Africa’s 54 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, have enacted some form of cybersecurity legislation.
Not only are the countries enacting cybersecurity laws, but they are also creating data protection laws that force companies to employ standard cybersecurity protocols.
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