Experts and top Nigerian
government officials have said at least ₦150 billion will be lost to cyber
criminals if they eventually carry out their plan to launch a massive robbery
attack on the country this year.
Daily
Trust report continues:
Many
Nigerians were jolted two weeks ago when the National Information Technology
Development Agency (NITDA) raised the alarm of an impending cyber-attack on
banks and some other key establishments in the country.
The
agency in charge of IT regulations in the country said it had intercepted plans
by hackers to wreak havoc which could make its financial institutions lose
billions of naira to the cyber heist.
But
the banks are not the only targeted institution. NITDA said the cyber criminals
or hackers are also targeting health institutions and other government
agencies. And it could be very soon or anytime within the year, according to a
statement signed by the agency’s Director General, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
Pantami
however said the agency was already working to counter the hackers. He also
added that there was need for all stakeholders to take urgent and solid
precautionary measures. He said the agency’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT), in
conjunction with other industry stakeholders had already intercepted the plans
by the hackers.
Speaking
with Daily Trust in Abuja, a top government official who is also an expert in
cybersecurity, said if the hackers or the cyber criminals succeeded in
launching the attacks, financial institutions, multinationals and many MDAs in
the country may have their data taken over and at least ₦150 billion may be
lost.
The
official, who pleaded anonymity because he was not cleared to talk to the media
on the issue, added that apart from monetary loss, documents and data may also
be seized and damaged by the criminals.
In
2016, he said, Nigeria lost US$450m to cyber-attacks alone and the trend has
been on the rise since then.
According
to him, a total of about 3,500 cyber-attacks were launched on the country in
2017, 75% of which were successful, which led to a loss of about US$500
million.
It
would be recalled that the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, said
Nigeria was losing 0.08 of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to cybercrimes and
the figure might have risen because a large number of incidents were undetected
or unreported.
“Available
statistics put the cost of cybercrime globally at over US$700 billion per year,
and it is projected to rise to about US$2 trillion by 2019, due to the rapid
digitization of consumer lives and company records,” he said adding that “the
number of incidents in 2016 grew by 38% as against the number reported in
2015.”
Shittu
said the prevalence of electronic commerce and online malls was giving
cybercriminals opportunity to attack unsuspecting Nigerians.
He
lamented the shortage of cyber security experts in Nigeria, warning that could
expose the country to cyber danger.
He
however said his ministry and Office of the National Security Adviser were
already implementing the provisions in the Cybercrime Act 2015 to curtail the
menace of cybercrimes
But
an IT security expert, Remi Afon, said to prevent cybercrimes, government
should enact a data protection regulation which makes it compulsory on all organizations
to put in place strong data protection strategy.
Afon,
who is the President of Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN),
however said cyber-attacks at various times on super powers like the US, China
and Russia have shown that no country has got the capacity to fully protect
itself from cyber-attacks.
He, however advised government to prioritize its efforts and raise cybersecurity awareness across the country.
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