The Information Security Society of Africa Nigeria (ISSAN), has advocated the need for the amendment of the National Cybersecuriy Protection Act 2015 to update its provisions with current realities in the global cybersecurity space
Speakers and Panelists at the association’s just concluded Quarter 1, 2022 Cybersecurity Conference with the theme ‘Payment Systems Platform Security’ held in Lagos, pointed out that the amendments to the enabling legislation were required to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity’s environment.
To achieve this, the panelists advocated for a stronger collaboration and coordinated efforts by all stakeholders in the cyber industry, including the government, to stem the rising wave of cyber threats in the nation’s payment system platforms.
This is even as as they also harped on the need for a Cyber Insurance Policy for the industry.
Speaking at the forum, the association’s President, Dr. David Isiavwe, pointed out that as the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually easing out, organizations were now settling for hybrid ways of working and providing services for customers while being mindful of the enlarged cyber threats.
According to him, the new forms of attacks are being contrived and implemented by criminals through various means on individuals, corporate entities and national security infrastructure, even as cyber security gatekeepers are not spared as large sums of money are usually at risk in every successful attack.
The ISSAN President: “What we see on the horizon is that Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks are becoming alarming; Ransomwares attacks are not relenting. There are more phishing and password targeted attacks. Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks remain a growing problem. The loss globally is colossal.
“In Africa, Nigeria is expected to lead in terms of estimated loss due to our size. There is therefore the urgent need to brainstorm on how to keep payment systems platforms safer”, the industry expert added.
Isiavwe, who is also a General Manager at Ecobank Nigeria, maintained that banks and organizations needed to be proactive, keep customers educated and updated on new threats and trends in the cyber space, automate and continuously monitor their systems and infrastructure, and also place high premium on artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and data analytics.
In his keynote address at the forum, Director, Payment System Management Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Musa Jimoh commended the activities of ISSAN at enhancing a safer and secured payment ecosystem.
The Director restated the apex bank’s commitment to initiatives that would promote and enhance payment system security to check cyber fraud in the nation’s financial system.
Jimoh cautioned that the financial sector cannot afford to fail as the payment system remained very crucial to the effective functioning of the nation’s economic system.
He said: “Data security is important for customers and a tool for financial inclusion. Banks are the custodian of customers’ information based on trust and should therefore put structures in place to prevent breach and information theft.
“They should not compromise customers’ credentials as it would give cyber criminals access to defraud them”, the banker added.
According to him, the increasing penetration of Fintechs into the financial landscape has engendered stiffer competition which should be of interest to all players, especially professionals in the financial system.
The Director advised: “All responsible officers in charge of information security in organizations should keep track and always check and see the right things are done for the entities that are allowed to connect to their infrastructure.
“Banks should address infrastructure deficiencies, ensure operational resilience, introduce second or multi-factor authorization, ensures banking payment infrastructure are formidable, address privacy violations, carry out end to end encryption to protect stored data, and also adhere to KYC provisions to avoid terrorism financing and money laundering”, Jimoh added.
In her remarks, Managing Director, Credit Registry Plc, Dr. Jameela Ayedun, advocated a collaborative approach by banks, CBN, government agencies such as National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and others to enhance cyber security in the nation’s financial system.
She said: “Cyber security is the responsibility of all. The cyber criminals are still on rampage therefore we must protect our payment systems and not give anything to chance. We must educate our consumers and should not be a silent victim.
“The payment service providers must have the basic requirements. Government also have role to play in this regard. We should emphasize privacy and integrity of our payment systems”, the banker added.
