The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Remi Afon

  • FG laments N127b loss to cyber crime

    FG laments N127b loss to cyber crime

    …Partners CSEAN on awareness creation, cyber defence      

    The Federal Government has said the country loses over N127 billion annually to cyber-crimes across the country.

    Minister of Communications, Bar. Adebayo Shittu, disclosed this yesterday during Cyber Secure Conference organised by the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) in Abuja.

    The Minister acknowledged increasing threats in the nation’s cyberspace stressing that the trend was becoming more sophisticated and frequent.

    He said it was thus important to intensify efforts to secure the country’s cyber space against imminent threats, as the federal government already inaugurated an advisory council on cyber security.

    His words: “Indeed, Nigeria loses over N127 billion annually, which translates to about 0.08 of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The financial implication could be much more, but a larger number of incidents remain undetected or unreported. These grim figures go on to emphasise the fact that cyber criminals never sleep.

    Building a resilient cyber defence is a priority as available statistics puts the cost of cyber-crime globally at $700 billion per year, and it is projected to rise to about $2 trillion by 2019, due to the rapid digitisation of consumer lives and company records. Breaches like these have steadily been on the rise as according to reports, the number of incidents in 2016 grew by 38 per cent as against the number reported in 2015.

    According to him, the country is in dire need of cyber experts that could help secure the cyberspace.

    Earlier, CSEAN President, Remi Afon identified the need for the country to implement the National Cyber Security Strategy and Policy designed by the federal government to secure the country.

    RELATED: North Korea hackers attack banks in Nigeria, 17 other countries

    He cited the recent global cyber-attack named as ‘wannacry ransomware’ which had wreaked havoc in 104 countries and shut down over 200, 000 computers.

    However, he said the government should make it a mandate in partnership with other stakeholders in the sector to create cybersecurity awareness across the country.

    Aside, Afon urged the federal government to allocate budget to build cyber defence system and increase capacities among private and public establishments in order to jointly build a resilient cyber security ecosystem.

    “We don’t need to be reminded of the growing sophistication and pervasiveness of cyber-attacks, whether it was a billion compromised Yahoo accounts or state-sponsored hackers muscling on national elections.

    “Just last week, the world was hit with ‘WannaCry ransomware’ attack one of the largest ever cyber-attacks in recent years… This attack reinforces how dependent we have become on our data-driven networks and serves as a wake-up call for government, businesses and organisations to make cyber security top priority,” he added.

    Presents at the conference were representative of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), KPMG Nigeria, Microsoft, Panda among others.

  • Panda, CSEAN ready to offer solutions on new generation cyber threats

    Panda, CSEAN ready to offer solutions on new generation cyber threats

    Panda Security in partnership with the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has disclosed plans to offer solutions to emerging cyber threats in the country.

    Regional Manager of Panda Security, Jeremy Matthews, on Friday said African organisations and governments are no longer immune to efforts of today’s cyber-criminals.

    Speaking ahead of the Cyber Secure Nigeria 2017 conference, scheduled to hold from May 16 -18, he stated that the meeting was designed to prepare participants on ways to defend their networks and operations against the growing sophistication of cyber-attacks. The event is themed “Building Resilient Cyber Defence”.

    “We are proud to announce our participation in this event, it is a great initiative by CSEAN that sheds light on the cyber-security environment and what organisations can do to combat the advanced threats we see today,” Mathews stated.

    In a joint statement issued with the CSEAN President, Remi Afon in Abuja, business leaders and IT professionals need to ensure they are making informed decisions about their cyber-security.

    According to him, the drive for profitable attacks by cyber-criminals saw the number and severity of attacks increasing rapidly each quarter for the last few years.

    “In the light of these changes, it is imperative that industry stakeholders collaborate and share their knowledge of products and best practices,” he stated.

    He assured that Panda will provide insights into its new generation technology relating to EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) and SIEM (Security Incident and Event Management).

    The statement reads: “This changes the model from traditional AV of the past to one based on prevention, detection and response technology. A paradigm that Panda Security has implemented through their Adaptive Defence 360 (AD360) solution.

    “Adaptive Defense 360 is the first offering to combine EPP (Endpoint Protection) and EDR capabilities into a single solution. By leveraging EDR technology, AD360 accurately classified all running programs, only allowing legitimate programs to run. Closing the cycle of adaptive malware protection, by including automated prevention, detection, forensics and remediation into a holistic solution.”

  • Nigeria not immune to cyber threat – CSEAN

    • Warns of imminent cyber-attack on banks

    Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has warned that the country is currently vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

    CSEAN President, Remi Afon stated in Abuja that corporate organisations and government establishments have refused to realise and prepare for imminent dangers of cyber threats.

    He stated that cyber-attacks were becoming more dynamic and sophisticated, thus need to build a resilient cyber defence system for the country.

    According to a statement, issued on Tuesday by the association, a report recently released by Kaspersky revealed that some banks are targeted by North Korean hacking operation group in 18 countries including Nigeria.

    The statement reads: “A recent report by Kaspersky showed that North Korean hacking operation linked to Lazarus group targeted banks in 18 countries of which Nigeria was among the targets. Clearly, this has shown that Nigeria is not immune to cyber threats. The vast scope of Cyber threats we face today makes a compelling case for legislation that will compel organisations to have minimum cyber security controls in place and also mandate them to make full disclosure once they are breached. This will assist the nation in understanding attack vectors we face and aid security experts in the implementation of adequate security controls.”

    Afon added that “the global cost of cybercrime will reach $6 trillion by 2021, a threefold increase from the 2015 estimate of $3 trillion according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Unfortunately, over 80 per cent of organisations and government agencies in Nigeria believe that since they have not suffered a major cyber-attack, there is no need for security to be implemented in their business plan.

    “Cyber threats and attacks are becoming commonplace, sophisticated and damaging. Governments, organisations and individuals are faced with an evolving complex threat landscape. State and non-state actors are capitalising on vulnerabilities to launch attacks. Through workshops, plenary and breakout sessions, Cyber Secure Nigeria 2017 will prepare participants to defend their networks and operations against growing sophistication of cyber-attacks by Building Resilient Cyber Defence.”

    However, Afon said the 2017 cyber security conference tagged “Cyber Secure Nigeria 2017,” scheduled to hold in Abuja on May 16-18, would provide the platform for cyber security gatherings.

    Stakeholders expected in the conference included industry giants, government, academia, information security professionals from the country and international community.

  • Cyber Security: Experts launch anti-cyber-attack programme

    Cyber Security: Experts launch anti-cyber-attack programme

    In an effort to stem the tide of incessant cyber-attacks on internet users in the country, information communication experts have launched an anti-cyber-attack programme known as the CyberSAFE.

    The experts, under the aegis of Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), said the cybersafe programme would be added to CSEAN public training schedule, alongside end-user cyber security training course and corresponding assessment.

    Speaking in an interview with the association’s President, Remi Afon, in Abuja on Monday, he explained that both programmes were developed in partnership with Logical Operations with the aim of helping organizations combat cyber security threats.

    According to him, the cybersafe training program was designed for non-technical end-users of computers, mobile devices, networks, and the Internet.

    He said: “Logical operations’ new cybersaafe instructor-led training curriculum, available now through training centers, enables employees of any organization to identify many of the common risks involved in using conventional end-user technology, as well as ways to use it safely to protect themselves and their organizations from those security risks.

    “End-users play a critical role in protecting an organization’s data, but often times; they are the weakest link in the security chain. In fact, according to Reuters.com, end-user awareness and training reduces security-related risks for organizations by 45% to 70%.”

    He further expressed confidence that the cybersafe, if embraced, would go a long way in equipping businesses, government ministries, agencies and departments to reduce the threats posed by cyber criminals in the country.

    “Considering that end users are the weakest link in most cyber-attacks, it becomes imperative to equip all employees on how to remain safe online.

    “We developed the CyberSAFE training program because we recognize that end-users are a crucial part of protecting an organization’s assets, especially since emerging trends such as byod are exposing organizations to more and more security threats. With the CyberSAFE training program, employees and organizations everywhere will learn how to use technology more securely to minimize security risks to themselves and their organizations.” he added

  • PVC may be vulnerable to hacking, CSEAN warns

    PVC may be vulnerable to hacking, CSEAN warns

    National President, Cyber Security Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), Mr. Remi Afon has said the Permanent Voters Card of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may be vulnerable to hacking.

    Remi said except the commission improves on its cyber security measures, the CR could be hacked by cyber criminals for the benefit of selfish politicians.

    The CSEAN President disclosed this in Abuja at the eNigeria 2015 conference organised by Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

    In the topic titled, ‘Contending The Next Cyber Security Threat in Nigeria, Hack The Vote’, Afon explained týhat the Android Operating System 4.2.2 currently adopted by INEC was prone to alteration, stressing that a blank card could be used to copy information on an already existing PVC.

    “As politicians and political parties have their eyes and ambitions on general election come 2019, what many do not know is that come election day, hackers could be the ones whose votes have the biggest impact.

    “Android 4.2.2 is known to have multiple vulnerability. Android master key vulnerability is a critical condition that affects an estimated 99 per cent of the android devices in operation. It could allow attackers to use exploit code to easily infect devices with a malware,” Afon said.ý

    ýIn what he described as cryptography, the CSEAN stated that the card reader reads embedded chip on the PVC, shares secret code with the PVC but such “crypto portion can be found and reconstructed.”

    Afon said during the PVC authentication process by the Card Reader, security researchers found that there is a way to perform man-in-the-middle attacks on chip cards by compromising the ýsub process, which determines the authentication required by the CR.