Senate Legislative Stakeholders Summit on ICT and Cybersecurity

The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and the Office of the National Security Adviser are worrried that the rapid evolution of cyber security threats, such as cyberbullying, cyberstalking, sextortion, data compromises, social media misuse, internet fraud and launching of attacks on governments, businesses, educational establishments and defence infrastructure, etc is dampening the success story of digital technology. In a recent disclosure, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stated that Nigeria loses a minimum of five hundred million US Dollars, equivalent to eight hundred and fifty billion Naira (N850,000,000,000) annually.

Very regrettably too is the use of ICT as an easy vehicle for banditry and kidnapping, wherein, despite SIM registration requirements imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), criminals have continued to exploit mobile telephony, communication networks and other tools as means for planning and execution of such nefarious activities and negotiation of ransoms. The alleged culpability of financial institutions in the payment and collection of ransoms, despite robust Know Your Customer (KYC) data is another heartbreaker.

It is given the ugly scenario that the Committee on ICT and Cyber Security is mandated to engage with all stakeholders to galvanize a comprehensive and broad-based approach to addressing Nigeria’s information and communication technology weaknesses with particular concern for appropriate digital technology deployment, data protection, cyber security improvement, cybercrime management and digital literacy and skills development, hence the call for this summit.

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