The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cyber

  • Cyber cafés no longer handle UTME registration

    With effect from next year, cyber cafés will no longer be accredited as centres where candidates can register for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    Prof Dibu Ojerinde, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), said registration should now be done at the 156 centres that would be used for the Computer Based Tests (CBT).

    To this end, Ojerinde, who delivered the keynote address at the opening of a three-day national conference on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Monday, warned prospective candidates of the dangers of registering in cyber cafés.

    Should they run into trouble with processing their examination and results, the JAMB boss said they would have themselves to blame.

    The Registrar said JAMB has given registration to the 156 centres to minimise the atrocities perpetrated by operators of unapproved cafés.

    Speaking on the theme, Application of new technologies in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, Ojerinde said that there is no going back on full migration of the UTME from paper to Computer Based Test (CBT) from next year.

    To this end, he said preparations are in top gear to ensure that the CBT/UTME is successful.

    He said: “There is no going back to our proposed all CBT for our UTME come 2015. I want to assure the public that we are working round the clock to ensure that we record huge success during our 2015 all computer test.

    “We are creating more centres nationwide in addition to the existing ones that we have been using before now.  This is to ensure a successful migration into the CBT mode as well as ensure that the candidates are carried along.

    “We are looking forward to having about 1.6 million prospective candidates registering for the examination nationwide, including the visually impaired, who we have also taken into consideration as we prepare for the examination.”

    Despite his optimism, Ojerinde said the board has faced some challenges in migrating to CBT.

    He said many skeptics in the system have opposed the move because they could not fathom how the technology would work with erratic power supply and lack of electrification in rural areas.

    He also claimed there is a local and international conspiracy threatening the development of CBT in Nigeria.

    Poor budgetary allocation, he explained, was also making it difficult to meet its obligations.

    With the general elections holding next year, the JAMB Boss said the date of the examination may be brought forward from April to March.

    Earlier in her welcome address, the Acting Head, Department of Science and Technology Education, organisers of the conference, Uju Esiobu said the meeting was to afford educators of Science, Technology and Mathematics (STM) and practitioners to brainstorm on how to use ICT to enhance STM education.

  • Boko Haram’s Shekau confirms cyber war

    Boko Haram’s Shekau confirms cyber war

    In case anyone still thinks the Federal Government is not already warring against its enemies and opponents in cyberspace, that person had better think twice. Thanks to the recent video released by Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, we now have a confirmation that the Nigerian government is very active in the so-called fifth domain of warfare, the cyberspace. If in 2009, the United States could declare its digital infrastructure a strategic national asset, and the Pentagon could one year later also set up its U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) to defend American military networks and attack other countries’ systems, surely it is no big deal for the Nigerian government to hack into Boko Haram’s cyber operations network and undermine it.

    The Shekau confirmation of cyberwarfare comes after he tried to explain why he took so long in refuting the claim of one Abu Abdulazeez who claimed to have had the mandate of the Boko Haram leader to declare ceasefire and request for dialogue with the Federal Government based on some tentative agreements with the Borno State Government. According to Shekau, he made several attempts to upload a video message denouncing the call for dialogue or announcement of a truce. Every time an attempt was made, he moaned, the Nigerian government either summarily removed the message from the internet or blocked it altogether. Shekau did not say whether the sect has finally got the software to override the government’s interference.

    Hardball intends no insinuation, but it is significant to note that al-Qaeda is fairly adept at cyber war and would not mind pursuing its nihilist intentions by generously distributing to agents and affiliates the skills to conduct their own successful operations in cyberspace. So, too, is Iran, which seems to be giving both Israel and US a run for their money in cyberwarfare. Who can forget that in December 2011, Iran claimed to have hacked into a US spy drone called RQ-170, compromised it, and brought it down safely in Iranian territory? Naturally, the US denied losing any drone through cyber war, insisting, however, that the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed after handlers lost control of it.

    But more spectacularly, there was the recent combined US/Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear programme, particularly its uranium enrichment program, which is at the centre of its nuclear militarisation process. In 2009 and 2010, the US and Israel deployed the so-called Stuxnet computer virus to sabotage the enrichment process. After Iran recovered from that attack, the two countries deployed an even more virulent cyber weapon identified as W32.Flame said to be “capable of penetrating a system, stealing sensitive data and turning on cameras and computer microphones to obtain additional data or change settings on computer systems.” The war continues, with all manner of footloose cyber warriors, some of them young and independent, causing havoc and gloating with satisfaction.

    Nigeria’s Boko Haram commanders will be bracing up for more attacks. Let us, however, hope that they are not quite stable or smart enough to be on the offensive in the fifth domain of warfare. For if the Americans and their Israeli partners are having headaches coping with Iranian cyberspace affront, imagine what migraine the lowly placed Nigerian government cyberspace managers could have from motivated cyber militants. More importantly, while it may be in the national security interest for Nigeria’s cyberspace warriors to subvert extremist groups like Boko Haram, we must hope that the government ninjas would not be tempted to expand the frontiers of cyberspace war to undermine civil liberties and invade the privacy of citizens. To this extent, therefore, it may not be inappropriate to ask whether the National Assembly Intelligence Committees (House and Senate) are really carrying out their oversight functions in these delicate areas.