Computer professionals want Nigeria to engage UN on cyber security challenges

Computer professionals have called on the Federal Government to engage the international community including the United Nations on the challenges of cyber security in the country.

Under the aegis of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the professionals said it (society) will also help by collaborating with other stakeholders on the need to generate grass root awareness on cyber security.

These suggestions formed part of the communiqué issued at a one-day Stakeholders Meeting on National Cybersecurity challenges in Nigeria, organised by NCS, Edinburgh Napier University of United Kingdom, and Soft Alliance Resources Limited, in Lagos.

The Communique, which was signed by NCS President and Executive Secretary, Prof. Adesina Simon Sodiya, and Iyiola Ayoola respectively, also stressed the need for the government to establish a national cyber security agency, to specifically handle issues relating to cyber breaches, prevention, and others.

Furthermore, the conference pointed out that government should enforce existing related bills such as Electronic Transaction Bill (for financial online payment systems) and National Critical Infrastructure Bill (for protection of digital assets) to ensure cyber stability in Nigeria.

To them, it will do the country more good, if government invests on incidence response capabilities at local, national and international levels, and commence the process of flexible identification of citizens through data harmonisation.

Going forward, NCS will collaborate with other stakeholders in the establishment of Private Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement to finance awareness programmes for the citizenry.

NCS said it will act further on its advocacy business through training and various seminars arrangement as a means of educating the public on the identified threats in the cyber space. The body also
advise government to introduce a general course tagged “cyber security” at the entry level of Nigerian schools not only in the tertiary institutions but also at all levels of education.

The Computer professionals said they will advise government on the need to outsource the activities of Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to facilitate early completion of the project.

At the well-attended forum, NCS said the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) policy should be considered for implementation by a newly-created cyber security agency.

It noted that enforcement of the Cybercrime Act 2015 in all sectors of the economy including health and education sectors will do the country lots of good, especially in clipping the wings of cyber criminals.