Globally, one of the most discussed issues attracting lots of apprehension among experts is the escalating rate at which cyber criminals are operating. Trust me; it is getting very scary and complicated!
Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that the global community will lose more than $6tn annually by 2021 to cyber criminals, while Forbes projects that cybercrime costs will reach $2tn by 2019. From these projections, the level of increase from 2019 to 2021 will be about $4tn, which by every stretch of imagination is huge.
Looking at the Nigerian scenario, you will agree with me that activities of hackers and cyber criminals have posed serious threats to the government, organisations, key industries, critical national infrastructure as well as individuals.
In a report credited to the National Security Adviser, Nigeria lost N127bn to cybercrime through software piracy, intellectual property theft and malware attacks between 2013 and 2014, while the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, United Kingdom, estimated that the annual cost of cybercrime to Nigeria stands at 0.08 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP.
Exploiting the complexities of the Internet of Things is one of the most effective ways to launch massive cyber-attacks as we saw in the United States a few months ago and this will likely continue as more devices get online.
Connected devices can be hacked and used in a malicious manner to cause serious harm. IoT devices are made a slave to an attacker who uses automated processes to find connected devices with weak security. And since most devices are designed to be left alone after setup, it is almost impossible for an average user to know when their device has been compromised.
“The scope of attack surface is expanding,” Ted Harrington said, using a term for the different points where a hacker can gain access. “And not just attack surface, but the scope of vulnerable attack surface is expanding exponentially,” said Harrington, Executive Partner at Independent Security Evaluators.
In recent years, there has been a tremendous growth of technology, spanning all governmental and human activities. We are gradually transcending analogue to digital, adopting e-governance, e-commerce, e-banking and other forms of online activities within the space. There is no doubt that Nigerians are becoming exposed to vulnerabilities of cyber-attacks with much dependence on technology.
The more we continue to witness growth in internet penetration in Nigeria, the more we become vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The growing number of internet users coupled with the increasing threat of cyber-attacks and risks to our privacy demand greater security in our online world.
I would have said that the most reliable and safe strategy to adopt is to shun online activities completely. Do not just get connected. If you do, your data becomes susceptible to — Finish Reading on the Punch Website
