Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen
The Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) has said that safeguarding the cyberspace requires holistic approach and collaborative efforts by players in all spheres of the economy.
This position according to NCC, informed its support to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) urging all sector regulators to set up Computer Security Incidence Response Teams (CSIRTs) that will collaborate and work with the ngCERT in tackling cyber threats and vulnerabilities, thereby forming an effective and well-coordinated national CERT ecosystem.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta stated this on Thursday in Lagos in a keynote titled, Building Resilience in Critical Cybersecurity Infrastructure,’ at 2016 Cybersecurity Awareness Month organized by the United States Embassy.
He said the Commission is also partnering with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to establish (here in Nigeria) a Regional Cybersecurity Center (RCC) for Africa.
The center, which he said will be sited in Abuja, shall provide support in the area of technical manpower training, information sharing and other collaborative roles with local CERTs in the African region.
According to him, the current scale and growth of ICT applications transcends all spheres of social and economic boundaries worldwide.
Danbatta who was represented by the Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo explained that education and general public awareness is a key part of the requirements in curbing cybercrimes.
He said that the NCC CSIRT will take cognizance of the country’s pervasive use of, and reliance on, mobile and cloud technologies, including current advances in mobile “smart phones” capabilities and corresponding vulnerabilities, to develop and nurture home grown Cyber Security Solutions that will protect critical national information infrastructural support the fight against Cybercrimes and terrorism and foster confidence in the nations’ economic / financial systems.
Also, US Consul General F. John Bray said all around the globe, individuals, companies, and governments become the victims of cyberattacks.
He said, “For this reason, in 2009 President Obama called for an increase in education and dialogue about Cybersecurity in the Cyberspace Security Review. As part of this policy review, the Department of Homeland Security created an ongoing Cybersecurity awareness campaign – Stop.Think.Connect.”
According to him, people are spending more time online, at home and at work than ever before saying “Our growing dependence on technology, coupled with the increasing threat of cyber-attacks and risks to our privacy, demands greater security in our online world.”
He stated that Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that the global community will lose more than $6 trillion annually by 2021 with the number of internet users growing daily, law enforcement officials expect the number of victims to increase as well as the value of their losses.
Bray noted that cyber awareness is everyone’s responsibility and international cooperation and information sharing are key to the successful mitigation of cyber-attacks.
