Cybersecurity experts have warned organisations and individuals to be security-conscious on the internet as cybercriminals are raising their games by the day. This is even as they warned that the next pandemic after COVID-19 may be cyber-attacks.
The experts under the aegis of Committee of Chief Information Security Officer of Nigerian Financial Institution (CCISONFI), who spoke at a one-day cybersecurity training for ICT journalists, said cybersecurity threats and attacks will continue to increase as more people embrace the internet. They, however, noted that while 100 per cent prevention of attacks is not possible, measures can be put in place to mitigate the effects of any attack.
Speaking at the training organised by the Cybersafe Foundation, in partnership with CCISONFI, the Group Chief Information Security Officer, Access Bank, Favour Femi- Oyewole warned that cyber-attacks would be the next post-COVID-19 pandemic saying that it is critical for businesses and people to begin building resilience and backups for their systems, platforms, and apps. She urged organisations to check their ability to bounce back should they suffer an attack.
“If anything happens to you, how quickly can you bounce back? Have you checked your resilience, do you have a backup”, she asked. According to her, integrity, confidentiality, and availability of a good cyber security system must be put in place by organisations as part of their cybersecurity strategies.
Femi-Oyewole added; “You need to put necessary measures in place to quickly detect any breaches and remedy. Vulnerability is any flaw or weakness that can be exploited. There should be countermeasures in place to prevent, minimize or report any breaches on time so that corrective measures can be taken up immediately”.
Human beings, she said, are the most essential and first line of defense against cyber-attacks, and they should guarantee that their systems and media platforms are not left unprotected.
In his presentation, the Chief Information and Security Officer, GTco Plc, Bharat Soni said organizations should work to mitigate cyber security challenges such as insider fraud, business email compromises, ransomware, and phishing. He explained that cyber threats and assaults have increased due to technological advancements, social-economic considerations, and insufficient criminal justice.
Soni listed the most recent cyber security breaches as Twitter compromise 2020, Colonial Ransomware Attack 2021, and Cyber Breach of an Undisclosed Nigerian Bank 2021. According to him, social media has become a challenge to reporting cyber incidents as many people do not check the authenticity of the news posted on these social media platforms, adding that this is is why media collaboration is critical to cybersecurity awareness.
Also, the CCISONFI Chairman and the Chief Information Security Officer, Stanbic IBTC, Igboa Abumere noted there is a need for awareness despite the cybersecurity regulations in the banking sector. He said: “We are highly regulated but we still need to know how to protect ourselves.”
In his presentation at the training, the co-Founder, Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Peter Adewale Obadare, enjoined ICT journalists to equip themselves with relevant knowledge in the cybersecurity space. Obadare said this will empower the journalists to inform the public with accurate and factual cybersecurity information in their reportage.
He cautioned that some major journalists and news reporters possess and convey extremely sensitive information that could create huge impacts across cyberspace, especially when they are unverified claims. He said that journalists are also never safe from being attacked by malicious bodies looking to either steal their sensitive information.
According to Obadare, “ignoring online privacy and cybersecurity is a luxury and a risk that journalists cannot afford. Doing so threatens their lives, credibility, sources, and their entire careers. “Now, journalists must keep their operations airtight, their privacy locked down, and their data secure”, he said.
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