Cybersafe Foundation, a cyber-security awareness creator, gathered in Lagos, today, cyber security experts, mostly from the financial sector, and the cream of IT journalists, to consider new trends in cyber security.
They also looked at ways to create more awareness on the dangers of cyber threats and attacks, and how to avoid them.
The experts, in their various presentations warn that cybersecurity threats, attacks are not going away, as the phenomenon could constitute the next pandemic, spelling out the danger of corporate bodies, government and individuals refusing to create barricades and walls for their platforms, digital tools and applications against cyber-attacks.
Some of those who spoke at the event include Mrs Favour Femi- Oyewole, Group Chief Information Security Officer, Access Bank, Abumere Igboa, Chief Information Security Officer, Stanbic IBTC, Dr Obadare Peter Adewale, Chief Visionary Officer and Co_Founder at Digital Encode, Confidence Staveley, Cybersafe Foundation and Bharat Soni, Chief Information and Security officer at GTB Limited
Over 30 IT journalists and media entrepreneurs attended the event at, which tips were given on how to report cyber security and threats and attacks, considered to be the next wave of digital pandemic.
Femi- Oyewole, while warning that cyber-attacks would be the next post-Covid pandemic, said it is important for organisations and individuals to begin to build resilience and back-ups for their systems, platforms and applications.
She urged organisations to check their ability to bounce back, should they suffer any attack. “If anything happens to you, how quickly can you bounce bank. Have you checked your resilience, do you have a backup”, she asked.
Saying that integrity, confidentiality and availability, the triad of a good cyber security system, Femi-Oyewole added; “You need to put necessary measures in place to quickly detect any breaches and ensure remedy. Vulnerability is any flaw or weakness that can be exploited.
“Need to put in counter measures to prevent, minimize or report any breaches on time so that corrective measures can be taken up immediately”.
According to her the most important and first level of shield and line of defense against cyber-attacks is the human beings who should ensure that they do not open their systems and media platforms for vulnerable.
Bharat Soni, who listed the most recent cyber security breaches to include Twitter compromise 2020, Colonial Ransom ware Attack 2021 and Cyber Breach of an Undisclosed Nigerian Bank 2021, said organisations should work to mitigate cyber security challenges such as insider fraud, business email compromises, ransom ware and phishing.
According to him Cyber security threats and attacks have become rampant due to technology changes, social economic factors and inadequate criminal justice, adding social media pose a challenge to reporting cyber incidents, as many people do not check the authenticity of news posted on SM.
Igboa stated that although “we are highly regulated we still need to know how to protect ourselves”, while Adewole enjoined IT journalists to adequately equip themselves with knowledge of trends in the cybersecurity ecosystem so they could help inform the public more accurate and active.
