The
cost to the national economy by activities of cyber criminals has been
estimated at N127 billion annually, according to Information Security
Society of Africa-Nigeria (ISSAN).The technology security group, which evaluated cyberspace security trend in the first half of 2016 at its July meeting in Lagos, said that the past six months have seen “strong positioning and metastasis of the ransomware and DDoS attacks globally”.
The society noted that cyber criminals successfully carried out high-profile cyber attacks worldwide in the first half of 2016.
David Isiakwve, President of ISSAN, says Nigeria is not excluded in these blocks of attacks happening on the Internet, adding that Nigerian fraud incidents trended up in the past six months.
According to him, 88 percent of the total cybercrimes in Nigeria comes from card and mobile banking frauds, with fraudulent transfers accounting for eight percent while internal fraud stands at four percent. He said Nigeria actually loses up to N127 billion in a year from cybercrimes.
Isiakvwe lists a number of notable cyber attacks that happened around the world during the first half of this year including massive password attack, which affected Central Bank of Bangladesh; massive phishing attacks and also cites attacks on the payroll department of Snapchat; and hack of social media outfits following attacks on CEOs of Facebook and Google.
Other cyber attacks identified as growing rapidly, according to ISSAN, are identity theft, ATM/card fraud, in-branch POS deposits, BVN related frauds/change of identity, and fraudulent transfer withdrawals.
The list also include business email compromise (BEC), social engineering attacks, DDoS attack kits sold for as little as $5 and malicious Pokemon Go app (Mobile Game), installing a backdoor on Android devices utilising RAT called DroidJack or Sandro RAT that gives the attacker full control of the victim’s device.
On how to combat this evolving threats, Isiakvwe recommends the following: know where your critical data are, take preventive measures to ward off attacks, detect every attack that successfully passes through, respond effectively to contain the attack, recover all, and restore your operations on time.
Incidentally, the rise in cybercrimes may be traced to the growing Internet subscription in the country. Latest data released by NCC shows that Internet subscription increased by five percent to 92 million in May 2016. This is a density of 50 percent as against the African average of 16 percent.
In a related development, Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications, has said that the global cybercrime threats to national security has widened government horizon in its attempt to protect the nation’s cyberspace.
Delivering a keynote address at the NGSecure Infosecurity Conference in Lagos recently, the minister said in view of the critical nature of the economy and government activities, it is obvious that protection from different types of cyber and terrorist attacks is required.
Shittu said cyberspace is being exploited to aid radicalisation and violent extremism and that government has realised that those tasked with the responsibility to protect our cyberspace – information security and cybersecurity – can no longer function within the framework of the past.
To address emerging cyber threats, he said, “The government has setup computer emergency response teams through the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and NITDA.
“Additionally, to further improve the nation’s preparedness to secure cyberspace, the Cybercrime Advisory Council has also been inaugurated. The council is expected to facilitate the implementation of the Cybercrime Act, 2015, and as well as the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy”.
The minister said government’s proactive measure is necessary because Nigeria’s growing dependence on digital infrastructure poses grave threats to national security. Quoting ISSAN, he said the country loses about N127 billion which is 0.08 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP), yearly to cybercrime.
He identified software piracy, identity theft, electronic fraud, online spam, intellectual property theft and malware attacks as capable of having devastating and far reaching consequences on the economy.