The Office of  the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on Tuesday engaged finance and capital market operators on the implementation of  a national cyber security policy and strategy to combat cybercrimes in the country.

The National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd), addressed various stakeholders  at the Multi-Stakeholders Sensitisation Workshop On The Implementation Of Nigeria’s National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy 2021 held  at the  Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos State.

Monguno was represented by NSA’s Director of Communications, Brig.-Gen. Samad Akesode, at the opening of the  two-day event that would end on Oct.

Monguno said that the workshop  was focusing  on the Financial and Capital Market Sector in developing  the Cybersecurity resilience for  their  infrastructure, improve businesses online, enhance service delivery and boost efficiency.

“The sensitisation campaign is also in recognition of the sector’s vital role in enhancing encounter with Cybersecurity in Nigeria.

“Our country is currently witnessing a digital transformation to enhance our national development.

“This transformation is a vital priority for the Financial and Corporate Sector because of the enormous benefits which include ease of doing  business between market infrastructure and ease of managing customers,” he said.

Monguno said that the fast rate of adoption of technology by the Financial Sector and Capital Market was impressive, encouraging and laudable and had helped the Financial Sector to grow beyond the shores of Nigeria.

“Inspite of these gains, like several other countries across the globe, the growth and development of our cyberspace is accompanied by significant and inherent challenges.

“Similarly, the paradigm shift witnessed in the digital transformation makes it continuously a lucrative target for cybercriminals, particularly, since the outbreak  of the COVID -19 pandemic in 2020.

“This can be attributed to possibie huge financial gains, access to valuable data which serves as a treasure to sensitive data including personal and financial information of customers,” he said.

The national security adviser coroborated this challenge by referring to the  EFCC’s statement made last week that 80 per cent of convicted cases were cybercrime with the bulk of it associated with financial fraud.

“The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System in its latest Industry Fraud Report found that the highest number of fraudulent cases were committed on web channels, transactions that are done using the web.”

He also said that a media organisation  reported on Feb. 16 that Nigerian Banks lost N35billion between July and September 2020 to fraud-related incidences, representing a 54 per cent increase from the same period in 2019 when it was N552 million.

“However, Capital Market Operators continue to embrace the current digital transformation for efficient management, better service delivery and returns on investment,” he said.

Monguno also said that cybercriminals were a threat to the digital landscape and dominated by ‘phishing’ such as social engineering and cloning of online platforms of capital market operators to lure their victims.

“This underscores the crucial need to consolidate and double our efforts for a more resilient infrastructure, enhanced capacity against cyber attacks and sustainable service delivery,” he said.

Monguno recalled that the promulgation of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015 was lauded by the public as it codified illegal activities conducted in the cyberspace.

“This effort from the Federal Government gave relevant organisations including the Financial Sector and Capital Market the opportunity and required information to structure their businesses to prevent and mitigate cybercrimes.”

He added that ONSA had  also made conscious efforts to implement the Cybercrimes Act through the development and implementation of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) 2014.

He added that it had been involved in  the establishment of ngCERT, National Digital Forensic Laboratory amongst others to ensure the safety of businesses online.

He, however, said that lack of required feedback from relevant stakeholders on the implementation of the Act could be said to be one of the setbacks to move the country forward in cybersecurity.

“Hence, feedback and inputs required from the Sector are valuable components to enable the enforcement of the Act by ONSA as highlighted in the Act.

“Therefore, enabling private and public partnership and joint task forces will hold the key,” he said.

Monguno said that the Federal Government of Nigeria reviewed the nation’s maiden NCPS 2014 and formulated a comprehensive 2021 version aimed at effectively harnessing  the benefits of the digital revolution and combat cyber threats

“The document presents the national roadmap for addressing the emerging threats in the cyber domain and enhancing progressive use of Nigeria’s cyberspace.

“The document also contains an implementation plan which captures the responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders towards actualising the initiatives proffered in the document,” he said.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),  Mr Godwin Emefiele,  said that many significant losses ocassioned by a cyber attack could cause instability in the financial system of a country.

Emefiele  represented by Mr Edward Adamu, the bank’s Deputy Governor, Corporate Services , said that such significant losses could hamper efforts in promoting a sound and safe financial system inline with CBN’s mandate.

“Cyber security is no longer a technology threat as it was once thought ; but now  it contributes significantly to the operational basis to which organisations and government institutions are exposed.

“This exposure is heightened by the dual effect of rapid digitalisation of offices and the need for other mode  ocassioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Most organisations now operate in a blender environment where employees are regularly working both in the office and from remote ocassions,” the governor said.

Emefiele said that correspondence that used to happen physically had been moved to cyberspace as necessitated by the pandemic protocols which were adopted.

“While this has given more flexibility and efficiency, it has also increased the possibility of cyber attacks as more activities happen online.

“Cyber criminals are developing and boosting their attacks as well as exploiting the fear and excessive cost by the unstable social and economic situation created by COVID-19 pandemic.

“An Interpol assess of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cyber crime has shown a significant target shift from the individuals and small businesses to major corporations, government and critical infrastructure,” he said.

The governor said that cyber criminals had taken advantage of increased security vulnerability to steal data, cause disruptions and seek ransoms.

“Recent trends like ransom should indicate to us that we need to discard thinking in silos and rather strive to collaborate to achieve a secured financial space.

“In the coming years, trends such cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, distributed legal technology among others will become the norm.

“Our need for cyber security will increase and so we must forge ahead as a nation with a common purpose and strategy,” he said.

Emefiele said that the vision and ethos of the national cyber security policy were very relevant today given the escalation in the spate of cybercrimes globally.

“The financial system in Nigeria is quite innovative and leverages information technology from e-commerce to the speed of settlement.

“As we progress to the digital age where every financial service lies to be digitised from stock trading to generating quality risk assets and financial intermediation, the  need to secure our collective cyberspace cannot be overemphasised,” the governor said.

He said that the interconnected nature of the financial system had  brought to the fore the need for all hands to be on deck in the operationalisation of the policy.

“From private to public institutions, regulators to regulated entities, we all need to work deliberately and collaboratively, knowing that the financial system of our country is a critical national asset.

“A weak link anywhere poses a significant threat in the entire financial ecosystem.  Therefore, CBN has elevated the issue of cyber security to the highest by been overseen by a board committee.

“As a result of this, the CBN had completed and operationalised its security operational centre in 2020,” Emefiele said.

The governor said that  the CBN had also enhanced collaboration between local enforcement agencies and the CBN cyber team which led to the arrest and prosecution of some cyber fraudsters.

“The activities of these fraudsters  were detected through the cyberspace monitoring actions of the CBN security operations centre.

“Also, CBN in collaboration with the Bankers Committee approved the establishment of the financial industries cyber operating centre known as the Sectoral Computer Emergency Response Team (SCERT) for the financial sector.

“Institutional actions alone while commendable will not suffice to tackle the rapidly evolving array of cyber attacks but collectively, cyber attacks can be curbed,” Emefiele said.

Also speaking, the Director General, Security and Exchange Commission, Mr Lamido Yuguda,   said that cyber security had become exceedingly important and encompassed all the important activities associated with mitigated cyber risks.

Yuguda said that  the activities associated with mitigated cyber risks include: how to identify, protect, detect, respond to and recover from cyber attacks.

“These attacks are usually an attempt to compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data or systems.

“The importance of cyber security to the financial sector needs to be underscored because people’s hard earned income and other financial assets are saved and invested in this sector.

“The sector deserves a robust strategy for mitigating cyber risks. This is in recognition of the fact that this cyber risks pose a significant threat to market confidence, integrity and efficiency,” he said.

The Director said that cyber attacks on financial institutions were often with the aim to get access to sensitive and confidential information for illicit financial gains.

“With the increased interconnectivity among financial institutions, a cyber attack from one location or entity may have systemic impact on the entire system thereby compromising the efforts of several centres of the economy.

“It is in this regard that the Security and Exchange Commission appreciates the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria through the ONSA in developing the national cyber security policy and strategy 2021,” Yuguda said.

According to him, the policy seeks to ensure that the national cyber security efforts effectively confront the dynamic and emerging nature of threats in Nigeria cyberspace.

“The Nigeria capital market like other security markets around the world is developing policy and regulatory responses to emerging cyber risks.

“The market has also adopted innovative platforms and leverages in technology to further enhance cyber security,” the director said.

Yuguda said that the Security and Exchange Commission was the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market and it , therefore, recognises the importance of information sharing in protecting the sector from cyber risks and attacks.

“The information when shared will help us as a nation to assess our level of cyber preparedness which will further enable us to identify the threats which will  require  our collective action.

“This will guide us on the required cyber security practices to adopt.

“I am confident that this workshop will help integrate and align our sectoral efforts at cyber security with the national cyber security policy and strategy 2021 being put in place,” he said. (NAN)