Understanding The Deep Roots Of Nigeria’s Cyber Security Problem

The Importance of Cyber Security 

Cyber Security consists of all the technologies and procedures used to protect computer systems and electronic data. It’s also a vast and expanding industry with a variety of roles in a world where more and more of our social and professional interactions take place online  Cyber security is essential because it protects all forms of data from loss and theft, intellectual property, personal identifiable information, sensitive data, protected health information and corporate and government information systems are all included. It is unfortunate though that not all organisations have the luxury of having the best cyber security team in place

The Problem 

Despite the internet’s success, detecting and containing the cyber threat that exists within its domain is a difficulty. It is commonly known that both inside and outside of Nigeria’s borders, illicit activity is carried out using the internet as a means of transportation. These actions have a negative impact on the nation’s economy as well as people and organizations located within Nigeria’s actual territorial boundaries in terms of money, reputation, security, and privacy   Although Africa has one of the toughest data privacy laws, its enforcement and disclosure procedures are still flawed. On April 3, news broke that Website Planet uncovered unprotected AWS S3 data buckets belonging to a Nigerian State health agency while working on a web mapping project. These buckets held roughly 45GB worth of data, including identification documents and images of individuals enrolled in the agency, and about 75,000 entries on an estimated 37,000 individuals. According to Website Planet, the buckets had dates from January 2021 and were active and updated at the time of discovery   The health agency known as PLASCHEMA was headed by the state governor and was established in September 2020 with the goal of providing affordable and readily available healthcare to the state people in Nigeria. On April 5, Website Planet notified Nigerian authorities of the leaked data buckets. However, according to them, the data buckets were still active and unprotected as of late July. Personal information found in the buckets  coul be exploited for identity theft, which could be used to open social media and virtual bank or credit accounts. It’s unknown if malicious hackers discovered the data before they were secured, but the longer it was left open, the more likely it could be caught by malicious parties. In a news conference on July 23, just a few days after the open buckets were secured, the director general denied any data breach or exposure. Sadly, the situation is indicative of Nigeria’s pervasive cyber security problems, where regulations are ineffective, unethical behaviour is rampant, and public disclosures of security breaches are frequently slow and insufficient

The Cause 

According to a Nigerian security analyst and executive director of the Cybersafe Foundation, many organisations in developed countries communicate when they have cases of cyber attacks, which encourages cyber-resilience and widespread incident response. Unfortunately, it is the opposite for Nigeria, wherein a lot of organisations absolutely deny the occurrence of cyber attacks and data breach incidents, even with the presence of evidence. In August 2020, two significant Nigerian banks were said to have experienced data breaches, exposing the financial information of their clients. A few days later, neither bank reacted, and when they did, their press statements were evasive, neither denying nor acknowledging the existence of any data breach   By failing to communicate, these organisations deprive their clients and other stakeholders of the knowledge they need to be able to protect themselves as well as the opportunity to offer anyone exposed to a potential breach useful advice. According to Staveley, poor cyber security practices and a lack of communication impair data protection and cyber security in Nigeria and foster a significant lack of competence   In Nigeria, security and protection are often not considered in IT infrastructure or data processing. Organisations are not even aware of the burden data collection carries. They don’t fully understand the importance of encryption and security in their pipelines because they don’t view the data they collect as something that needs to be secured. Data processing and gathering in Nigeria continue to be largely unmonitored, and security is frequently an afterthought. Sensitive information like addresses, phone numbers, financial information, and even identification numbers are requested in places where such information is unnecessary and is left available to anyone with enough curiosity to look up public records   This issue affects IT talent in general. Local businesses and organisations have found it more difficult to retain IT talent in recent years as remote work is slowly becoming the norm. This is because they have to compete with larger enterprises that can pay more and provide greater career opportunities. This is a serious issue, especially for new organisations. However, businesses and organisations with little to no worldwide potential, like Nigerian banks, are those most impacted. Nigeria boasts one of Africa’s greatest data protection and cyber security policies, yet these policies are not put into place   In Nigeria, particular flaws in the expanding usage of POS and electronic transactions are making a lot of people susceptible to situations that can occasionally result in financial loss. One of Nigeria’s most urgent cyber security problems, it will collectively account for more than 60% of financial crime in 2020. However, neither banking nor cyber security authorities have taken any action. Nigeria’s cyber security issue affects both public and private companies, but in public institutions, corruption, slowness, and bureaucracy can make matters worse. The intervals between contact, reaction, and action, as well as the absence of communication, reflect a careless approach to cyber security in Nigerian government agencies

How Wizard Cyber can help 

Wizard Cyber is a global cyber security partner with offices in the UK, Middle East and USA – allowing us to offer our clients security and protection round-the-clock. Wizard Cyber has been offering organisations of all sizes and sectors since 1995. As a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner and Azure Expert MSP, we are established leading Microsoft-focused cyber security experts. Our tailored approach guarantees that your organisation always receives the results it seeks, from a managed SOC or XDR solution to pen testing certification assistance Find out how we can help your organisation reduce costs, achieve 24x7x365 protection and security, and gain access to a team of dedicated, Microsoft-certified cyber security professionals. Get in touch with us today.