Despite the colossal financial losses to cyber criminals over the past year, a new report shows that Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and three other African countries are behind in preparation for cyber attacks,  LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

 

One of the biggest takeaways from the 2019 KnowBe4 African Cyber Security Report, which surveyed over 800 respondents across South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritius and Botswana, is that the countries are still not prepared to tackle cyber crooks.

KnowBe4 is an integrated security awareness training and simulated phishing platform.

According to the report, 65 per cent of respondents across all eight countries are concerned about cyber crime. However, KnowBe4 said they are vulnerable, as they are not aware of what they don’t know.

The Managing Director, KnowBe4 Africa, Anna Collard, said: “From ransomware to phishing to malware and credential theft, users are not protecting themselves adequately because they mistakenly think they’re informed, ready and prepared. Around 55 per cent believe that they would recognise a security incident, if they saw one.

“The results proved that respondents’ confidence was based on the little they knew about cyber attacks and it is where the problem lies.

Africans are not prepared for these threats, making them increasingly easy preys to cyber-criminals.

“Many criminals consider Africa a safe haven for their illegal operations, as many African governments need to attend to other pressing issues such as fighting poverty, unstable politics, violent crime and large youth unemployment and still regard cyber security as a luxury, not a necessity.”

The report says in many organisations, cyber security budgets are reported to be either less than one per cent of overall spend or are non-existent.

 

Skills shortage

Nigeria and other African countries also face the problem of a serious skill shortage of security professionals as well as a lack of awareness and skills among the general user population to protect them online.

Collard added that many African internet users are connecting to the internet for the first time and “with the sharp increase in the next few years, you are looking at millions of people connecting without understanding the risks”.

 

Lack of law/enforcement

Another reason the continent remains attractive to cyber criminals is lack of legislation and law enforcement.

According to a report by the African Union (AU), only about 20 per cent of African states have basic legal frameworks to deal with cyber crime.

While Nigeria passed the Cyber-crime Act in 2015, it has not made much impact as the law has not been properly tested in the law courts.

But Kenya, South Africa and Mauritius are probably the most advanced in this area.

The survey found that even though nearly half of respondents across all eight countries felt that their organisations had trained them adequately, a quarter of them didn’t know what ransomware was.

For South Africans, a worrying 31 per cent thought that a cyber threat that encrypts files and demands payments was a Trojan virus and 27 per cent of Kenyans agreed. More than 50 per cent of respondents are not aware of what multi-factor authentication is or the benefit thereof.

 

Highlights of Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act 2015

• Any person convicted of child pornography will get 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a N20 million fine, depending on the offence. Child pornography includes producing, procuring, distributing, and possession such images.
• Anyone convicted of identity theft will receive three years’ imprisonment and/or a N7 million fine.
• The Act also outlaws cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying. Anyone convicted of these could receive a N2 million minimum fine and/or at least one year in prison. More severe offences could attract a penalty as high as a N25 million minimum fine and/or up to 10 years’imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offence.
• If hackers are found guilty of unlawfully accessing a computer system or network, they could be fined up to N10 million, imprisoned for five years, or both, depending on the purpose of the hack.The same applies to internet fraudsters who commit cybercrimes by sending electronic messages, or accessing and using data on computer systems.
• The president may decide that certain systems, networks and information infrastructure are vital to the country’s national security or its citizens’ economic and social well-being.Therefore, the president may term them Critical National Information Infrastructure, and may implement procedures and guidelines for their use, and may conduct audits to make sure they are functioning as they’re supposed to. For example, the transportation, communications, banking sectors are critical national infrastructure.
  

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• A conviction for any offence committed against any part of Nigeria’s critical national infrastructure that results in someone’s death attracts the death penalty (and there are other punishments for lesser crimes).
• The Act prohibits cyber- squatting and anyone convicted of this faces at least two years’ imprisonment, and/or a minimum N5 million fine.
• The distribution of racially or ethnically prejudicial or violent material through a computer system or network is prohibited. Convictions attract at least five year’s imprisonment and/or a minimum N10million fine.
• Internet service providers (ISPs) are required to keep records of users’ Internet traffic and their subscriber data, and must safeguard this information so that the users’ constitutional right to privacy is respected.
• Lastly, the Act allows electronic communication to be intercepted, but only with a court order based on reasonable grounds to suspect that the information is required for a criminal investigation or proceedings.

 

E-mail trust

E-mail security is one of the biggest threats facing the average user, both at work and at home, and it is one of the most common communication methods – more than 70 per cent of those surveyed use e-mail to collaborate with friends and colleagues.

“Most people don’t realise what a risky e-mail looks like or how their actions can result in their systems becoming infected.

“While more than half of respondents in Botswana,Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco and Mauritius have enough security smarts to avoid clicking on links or opening attachments they don’t expect, 46 per cent still trusted e-mails from people they knew,” the report said.

In South Africa, more than half of respondents (52 per cent) trust e-mails from people they know, while 50 per cent don’t open attachments they have not expected.

“E-mail remains one of the most successful forms of cyber attack for this very reason.

“People are quick to click on links or attachments sent to them from people who they know, not realising that cyber criminals have potentially hacked or spoofed (impersonated) their friend’s, colleague’s or suppliers’ systems to spread malware, or launch other forms of attacks,” the report stated.

It explained that cyber criminals can easily mimic contact lists or use e-mail addresses that looked as if they’ve come from trusted institutions, and a simple click can unleash a ransomware attack that can hold an entire company, government or home hostage.

 

Boosting digital skills gap

Orange Africa and Middle East and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have signed an  agreement to develop the digital skills of 20,000 youths in 14 African countries and the Middle East region.

Orange and GIZ as two major institutions, one recognised for its expertise and know-how in innovation, the other noted by its experience and expertise in supporting the economic and social development of partner countries, will work hand in hand to train young people in acquiring digital skills, improve their employability and thus help reduce unemployment.

Both parties join forces and bundle their competences and resources, with a financial contribution of 20 million euros by Orange, and up to 10 million euros by GIZ.

This partnership will have a long-lasting impact on the economic perspective of youths.

In the context of the project, GIZ acts as implementation partner for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), who has set up the develoPPP.de programme to foster the involvement of the private sector at the point where business opportunities and development policy initiatives overlap.

Orange and GIZ will establish digital hubs in Africa and the Middle East – Orange Digital Centres (ODC). These centres offer young people training in digital technology free of charge, they accelerate the creation of start-ups and support project leaders.

The ODCs will feature digital state-of-the-art equipment. The teams will work with various stakeholders and the entrepreneurial ecosystem of each country to train young people and support in finding jobs. The ODCs will also work with universities in the regions.

The ODC concept already launched in Tunisia (https://oran.ge/2PuVHOo) and Senegal will soon be deployed in Morocco, Jordan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Burkina Faso, in Guinea and Liberia. Each ODC includes a coding school, a FabLab Solidaire, a start-up accelerator “Orange Fab” and Orange Digital Ventures Africa, the Orange Group’s investment fund.

Each of these four programmes is aimed at a specific audience. The Coding School is a free access technology centre that offers training, events and support for developers, geeks and project ideas.

The FabLab Solidaire, a digital manufacturing workshop for creating and prototyping with digital equipment, also targets young people without diplomas and jobs.

The FabLab Solidaire of the ODC is part of the global network of 88 FabLabs Solidaires belonging to the Orange Foundation.

Orange Fab and Orange Digital Ventures Africa are programmes that target entrepreneurs. The first is a start-up accelerator that supports the most promising start-ups in their commercial development and also helps them to build business partnerships with the Orange Group and the worldwide network of 17 Orange Fabs.

The second, Orange Digital Ventures Africa is a 50 million euros investment fund that finances innovative start-ups in countries on the African continent and in the Middle East region.

The Orange Digital Centre aims to create synergies between all these programs.

The aim of this partnership between Orange and GIZ is to make digital skills available for everyone.

Orange is present in 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has nearly 125 million customers as of last October 30. With sales of 5.2 billion euros in 2018, this zone is a strategic priority for the Group.

Orange Money, its money transfer and mobile money service available in 18 countries, has 45 million customers. Orange, a multi-service operator, a leading partner in digital transformation, brings its know-how to support the development of new digital services in Africa and the Middle East.

In spite of all the odds, telecoms’ Q1 contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) rose from 9.19 per cent last year to 10.11per cent this year, and for Q2 10.43per cent to 11.39 per cent. Active voice and internet subscriber figures also grew while the country pioneered 5G trial in Africa. All these achievements were, however, almost marred by the unresolved issue of USSD charges between banks and telcos, LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

 

ONE issue that crested a dramatic impasse in the industry during the year was the directive of Communications and Digital Economy Minister, Dr Ibrahim Pantami, stopping telcom from deducting charges on the use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) while allowing banks to do same.

USSD is a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication technology that is used to send text between a mobile phone and an application programme in the network.

Based on alleged agreement between telcos and Body of Bank CEOs, MTN Nigeria had sent out notice to subscribers of that N4 will be charge per 20 seconds on USSD access to banking services from October 21,2019.

The minister directed the NCC to stop the telcos who own the infrastructure to stop charges deduction while allowing the banks to continue charging.

The telcos have put the nation on notice that they will stop giving access to the banks for customers to do cash transfer through various codes on the network.

Acting under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), they wondered why stakeholders, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and Body of Bank Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), have kept quiet over the issue without summoning a meeting to resolve it.

ALTON’s Chairman Gbenga Adebayo faulted the argument that the cost of providing the services was ‘sunk’. He wondered if the cost of building a house could be described as sunk.

Adebayo said the companies invested huge cash to put the infrastructure in place, adding that they have been spending money to keep the base transceiver stations (BTS) running, in addition to other costs.

Adebayo said the telcos will soon apply the relevant sections of the Nigerian Communications Act to stop providing links to the banks.

The carriers insisted that stakeholders are yet to meet to discuss the way forward, “but the banks have continued to charge as much as N55 per transaction, using the same telecoms operators platform.”

According to him:  “I am saying it again that the USSD links will not be offered free of charge. The records are there. We are tracking how much the banks are charging and making on the USSD.

When the time comes, and we agree on the way forward, we will show them what they have been charging. For the telcos, it cost them so much to provide the service.

“What should have happened is that when we first raised this issue, we made public statement and expected that a stakeholders meeting should have been called to discuss the matter.

“The CBN governor spoke, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy spoke, the NCC withdrew; and since then, nobody has said anything.

We expected a meeting of minds, where all parties (telcos and the banks) would come and talk on the matter to a find a lasting solution, but nothing of such happened. I am saying it again; we cannot bury this matter under the table and wish it goes away, it won’t go away. The fact is those links won’t be provided at no cost.

“When the time comes, we shall treat it as interconnect debt. We shall invoke the right of the provider of service under the Act of the NCC. So, if the banks will continue to enjoy the service and they won’t pay, telcos will make a case to the NCC for proper disconnect.”

 

Subscriber figures

Perhaps, one of the benchmarks to measure the performance of the telecoms industry is the number of the growth in its subscriber base both in voice and internet and teledensity.

During the year, active mobile voice subscribers increased from 174,012,136 to 180,386,316 while internet subscribers increased from 114,306,598 to 123,559,596.

Broadband penetration also increased from 32.34 per cent (indicating 61,732,130 Nigerians on 3G and 4G networks) to 37.87per cent (indicating 72,289,389 on 3G and 4G networks).

 

Quality of Service

 

Quality of service (QoS) remains a key talking point. But as part of move to change the narrative through promoting the availability of reliable, interoperable, rapidly restorable critical ICT infrastructure that are supportive of all required services, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reviewed 2G Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and development and definition of 3G/4G QoS KPIs for collocation service providers as well as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) while a new national numbering plan was also developed.

Based on recent developments in the global telecoms industry such as machine to machine (M2M) communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), Over-the-Top (OTT) and others, as earlier stated, and other services made possible by fourth-generation networks and the futuristic 5G/6G technologies, the NCC considered it imperative for the numbering plan in the country to be reviewed.

The new NNP, therefore, will help to provide numbers that will satisfy the needs of the projected 500 million Nigerians to be connected and about 1 billion globally-interconnected machines and devices by 2050; promote efficiency in the allocation of this scarce national resource; promote competition among service providers; eliminate the risk of running short of all categories of numbers; facilitate the introduction and development of new and innovative services and above all, encourage growth of the telecoms sector and the attendant job creation and contribution to GDP, among others.

Type Approval of End User Devices to certify that Quality of Service/ and Quality of Experience (QoE) experienced by the user is not negatively impacted.

This is to prevent counterfeit devices in the Nigerian Market through Equipment Authorisation. The Commission has also continued monitoring point interconnection performance among operators and ensure resolution of interconnect disrupted among operators to prevent serious impact on quality of service received by the consumers.

The commission also ensured Quality of Service Performance Monitoring through continuous monitoring of service delivery by the operators to ensure compliance.

The commission also intensified collaboration with necessary stakeholders and government agencies at Federal and state levels towards resolving critical industry challenges affecting faster deployment of telecoms infrastructure in the country.

These include right of way issue, multiple taxation and regulations, vandalism, indiscriminate closure of base stations, fibre cuts, among others

 

Broadband penetration

Pursuant to the implementation of its 8-Poing Agenda, six InfraCos were licensed to drive the deployment infrastructure across the nation’s six geo-political zones and Lago.

The licensees are Raeana Nigeria Limited for the Southsouth; O’dua Infraco Resources Limited for Southwest; Fleek Networks Limited for Northwest; Brinks Integrated Solutions for Northeast; MainOne Limited for Lagos and Zinox Technologies Limited for the Southeast.

The remaining licence for Northcentral is being processed, according to the Commission. Federal Government’s approval is being sought for counterpart funding to be disbursed to the InfraCo to facilitate their deployment.

This will, however, depend on attainment of deployment milestones, according to the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof, Umar Danbatta. Based on Open Access Model (OAM), the InfraCos  will ensure there is, at least, one fibre access point for digital services across the 774 local government councils in the country. Increased commitment was given to this by the Commission.

On spectrum that will support broadband deployment, the Commission approved the 5G trial on 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) and 26 GHz to MTN; developed guidelines on the use of Television White Space (TVWS) to facilitate broadband penetration to underserved and unserved areas; opened up of 60 GHz band for unlicensed applications and broadband services; approved the use of 18 and 23 GHz microwave frequency bands for point to multi point deployments.

Also, some portions of 5.4 GHz bands were licensed; replanted the 800 megahertz (MHz) band for long term evolution (LTE); assigned 2×10 MHz Spectrum to Glomobile for trial in the 700 MHz; approval of Globacom trial on the 2×10 MHz assigned to it.

It expired in February, 2019 and the company has been offered right of first refusal on the slot. The NCC has also regularised 2×10 MHz Spectrum in the 700 MHz band previously assigned to MTN by NBC for the frequency to be used for the purpose of providing LTE services.

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Another regulatory efforts carried out this year in this regard was the creation of space services unit within the department to enable us regulate satellite and space services in facilitating broadband penetration; regularisation of the activities of all satellite operators including Space station operators as well as earth station operators; as well as issuance of landing permits to space stations beaming signals over Nigerian territory.

 

 E-waste, IT counterfeiting

To combat the harmful effect of electronic or e-waste, a regulation on e-waste and guidelines was unveiled during a stakeholder engagement in Abuja.

NCC sees e-waste as electrical or electronic equipment that is waste, including all components and consumables that are part of the equipment at the time the equipment becomes waste.

Apart from their solid and non-biodegradable nature, some of the toxic elements found in e-waste include lead, mercury, lithium and other ozone-depleting substances.

“A recent report by World Economic Forum (WEF) indicates that electronic waste (e-waste) is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the world.

It is estimated that this waste stream spiked by about 48.5 million tons in 2018. In Africa, the challenge is even direr. In a fast-paced telecoms industry where speed and capacity define the networks, rapid advances in technology make it easier and convenient to change malfunctioning gadgets than to repair them.

Also, illegal and predatory e-waste value chain, which encourages the movement of e-waste from developed to the developing countries, adds another layer to the global challenge of handling e-waste,” Dmabatta said.

The global concern for the regulation of e-waste is two-pronged. The first is the acute awareness of the hazardous properties and the potential risk on human health, as well as their capacity to degrade the environment.

The second is the business case and vast potential for wealth creation in recycling e-waste into more benign and productive uses.

Due to low GDP per capita/low income and quest for information, it is estimated that 75 per cent of electronic devices and equipment imported into the country are irreparable and toxic junk. In line with its regulatory mandate and to keep pace with efforts at managing e-waste-related issues, therefore, the Commission developed the draft regulations on e-waste.

Prof Dambatta said the draft regulations represent a holistic intervention aimed at providing clarity and delimiting the responsibilities of various stakeholders in the e-waste value-chain within the telecommunications industry.

 

Telcos listing on NSE

The listing of telecoms companies on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) is one of the high points of the year. NCC had insisted that listing on the NSE was one of the terms of settlement of MTN fine.

Any wonder then that the telco was the first to list followed by Airtel.  NCC said it was in line with its regulatory activities captured in the Nigerian Communications Act (2003) and other subsidiary regulations to promote investment, create a level-playing field for all licensees, ensure compliance to existing telecoms laws and facilitate delivery of high service quality to consumers.

“The MTN listing has helped to translate into action, an important objective of the Commission, which is to promote local investment and ownership in the telecom sector.

Also, with MTN shares available in the capital market, it is expected that Nigerians will buy shares and by purchasing the shares of MTN, they will be financially empowered and be socially transformed.

“It is instructive to state here that one of the greatest advantages of the MTN listing, facilitated by the NCC, is the implication it has on opening up the telecoms industry for greater investment profile it gives Nigerians the opportunities to invest in publicly-quoted companies like MTN, which is the leader in the telecommunications industry in the country and easily one of the continental leaders.

“In addition to benefits to the consumers, we all know that telecoms is a capital-intensive industry and of late, we found out that the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the sector has not been as much as it used to be and there is so much for the telcos to still do in terms of expansion and this expansion requires capital.

Industry issue bordering on poor quality of service is being partly traced to lack of sufficient infrastructure covering the entire country.

“One of the benefits of MTN listing and those of other operators to follow, therefore, is that the telco would be able to raise capital for expansion which, in turn, will bring about an improvement in the quality of service and quality of experience for the consumers of telecoms services, which is also a cardinal function of the Commission.”

 

SIM registration review

 

During the year, subscriber identity module (SIM) card registration was tinkered with to boost national security. Over 24 million registered subscriber records were scrubbed/cleaned-up (deduplicated) via Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) pursuant to its mandate to establish a credible telephone subscriber database.

The database was also upgraded with additional features such as “Add SIM” and “Update SIM” functionalities as well as the National Identity Number (NIN) field for an improved SIM registration process and ease of harmonisation with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) when the NIN regulations come into force. NCC is collaborating with the NIMC towards the implementation of the Mandatory Use of National Identification Number Regulations which stipulates the mandatory use of NIN for transactions such as SIM registration, reactivation/retrieval.