News
Cyberspace Turns Full-Blown War Zone-FireEye
Cyberspace has become a full-blown war zone as governments across the globe clash for digital supremacy in a new, mostly invisible theater of operations, according to an executive summary of a report released by FireEye at the weekend.
The report made available to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek said that, once limited to opportunistic criminals, cyber attacks are becoming a key weapon for governments seeking to defend national sovereignty and project national power.
From strategic cyber espionage campaigns, such as Moonlight Maze and Titan Rain, to the destructive, such as military cyber strikes on Georgia and Iran, human and international conflicts are entering a new phase in their long histories.
In this shadowy battlefield, victories are fought with bits instead of bullets, malware instead of militias, and botnets instead of bombs, the report contained.
A word of warning from the cyber security power house reiterated that the analytical waters surrounding cyber warfare are inherently murky, as these covert assaults are largely unseen by the public.
“Unlike the wars of yesteryear, this cyber war produces no dramatic images of exploding warheads, crumbled buildings, or fleeing civilians. But the list of casualties—which already includes some of the biggest names in technology, financial services, defense, and government —is growing larger by the day”.
A cyber attack is best understood not as an end in itself, but as a potentially powerful means to a wide variety of political, military, and economic goals.
“Serious cyber attacks are unlikely to be motiveless,” said Martin Libicki, Senior Scientist at RAND Corp. “Countries carry them out to achieve certain ends, which tend to reflect their broader strategic goals. The relationship between the means chosen and their goals will look rational and reasonable to them if not necessarily to us.”
Just as each country has a unique political system, history, and culture, state-sponsored attacks also have distinctive characteristics, which include everything from motivation to target to type of attack.
This report describes the unique characteristics of cyber attack campaigns waged by governments worldwide. We hope that, armed with this knowledge, security professionals can better identify their attackers and tailor their defenses accordingly.
A quick overview of the report painted Asia-Pacific as home to large, bureaucratic hacker groups such as the “Comment Crew” who pursue many goals and targets in high-frequency, brute-force attacks, while Russia/Eastern Europe, these cyber attacks are more technically advanced and highly effective at evading detection.
In the Middle East, the hackers are dynamic, often using creativity, deception, and social engineering to trick users into compromising their own computers and in the United States are the most complex, targeted, and rigorously engineered cyber attack campaigns to date.
FireEye noted that at the strategic level, governments desire to have a degree of plausible deniability.
“At the tactical level, military and intelligence organizations envelop such operations in layers of classification and secrecy. To be effective, information operations rely on deception—and the Internet offers an ideal venue for a spy’s smoke and mirrors.
“In practical terms, hackers often run their attacks through cyber terrain (such as compromised, third-party networks) that present investigators with technical and jurisdictional complications. And finally, cybercriminal tools, tactics, and procedures (TTPs) evolve so quickly that cyber defense, legislation, and law enforcement remain behind the attacker’s curve.
“The biggest challenge to deterring, defending against, or retaliating for cyber attacks is the problem of correctly identifying the perpetrator,” said Prof. John Arquilla, Naval Postgraduate School in an email interview with FireEye.®
“Ballistic missiles come with return addresses. But computer viruses, worms, and denial of service attacks often emanate from behind a veil of anonymity. The best chance to pierce this veil comes with the skillful blending of forensic back-hacking techniques with deep knowledge of others’ strategic cultures and their geopolitical aims.”
Cyber “attribution”—identifying a likely culprit, whether an individual, organization, or nation-state—is notoriously difficult, especially for any single attack. States are often mistakenly identified as non-state actors, and vice versa.
To make matters worse, ties between the two are increasing. First, a growing number of “patriotic cybercriminals” ostensibly wage cyber war on behalf of governments (examples include Chechnya and Kosovo in the 1990s, China in 2001, Estonia in 2007, Georgia in 2008, and every year in the Middle East).
“Second, cybercrime organizations offer anyone, including governments, cyber attack services to include denial-of-service attacks and access to previously compromised networks. FireEye researchers have even seen one nation-state develop and use a sophisticated Trojan, and later (after its own counter-Trojan defenses were in place) sell it to cybercriminals on the black market.
“Thus, some cyber attack campaigns may bear the hallmarks of both state and non-state actors, making positive attribution almost impossible. And finally, “false flag” cyber operations involve a hacker group behaving like another to mislead cyber defense researchers,” the report contained.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has disclosed that the commission recovered more than N7.2 million stolen from the bank account of a serving judge by suspected internet fraudsters in a midnight cyberattack.
Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Olukoyede made the disclosure at the public presentation of two books authored by retired High Court judge, Justice Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye.
He said the serving judge, who is from a South-South state, contacted him around 1:00 a.m. after receiving multiple debit alerts indicating that funds had been withdrawn from her account.
According to him, the stolen money represented savings the judge had accumulated over six years to finance her child’s education.
Olukoyede said the EFCC immediately swung into action and successfully recovered the entire sum before 6:00 p.m. on the same day.
He said the incident underscored the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals and the urgent need for stronger collaboration among law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and members of the public in tackling financial crimes.
The EFCC chairman also called for amendments to Nigeria’s legal framework to accommodate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in criminal investigations and prosecutions.
According to him, existing evidence laws should be reviewed to recognise AI-generated evidence as technology continues to reshape crime detection and investigation.
Also speaking at the event, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), urged anti-corruption agencies to intensify efforts to trace and recover public funds allegedly stolen and stashed in foreign countries.
Agabi stressed the need for sustained collaboration among relevant institutions to strengthen Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts and improve accountability in public service.
In his remarks, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), called for stricter enforcement of the country’s cybercrime laws to curb the growing menace of internet fraud.
Olanipekun said effective implementation of existing laws, alongside stronger institutional cooperation, would help address the increasing threat posed by cybercriminals to individuals and the nation’s financial system.
Federal Government has cleared nearly N39 billion in outstanding pension liabilities owed to retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), including former employees of the defunct Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTEL), the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and other federal government agencies.
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) disclosed this in a statement, saying the payments were in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises the settlement of inherited pension liabilities and improved welfare for retired public servants.
According to the directorate, the largest component of the payment, amounting to N25 billion, covered about 35 months of outstanding pension arrears owed to nearly 10,000 eligible retirees of the defunct NITEL and MTEL.
PTAD also said it disbursed about N9.5 billion as the first tranche of Back End Computation (BEC) arrears to eligible pensioners of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Mrs Tolulope Odunaiya, described the payments as a significant milestone in the Federal Government’s efforts to clear inherited pension obligations and strengthen confidence in the Defined Benefit Scheme.
Odunaiya said the settlement was made possible following presidential approval granted in 2025 and funding provided under the 2026 Appropriation Act.
She noted that the intervention had enabled the directorate to resolve long-standing pension liabilities affecting thousands of retirees.
“The successful settlement reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to sustaining pension reforms and ensuring that retirees receive their entitlements promptly in line with the objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” she said.
Odunaiya thanked the affected pensioners for their patience while the liabilities remained outstanding and reaffirmed PTAD’s commitment to transparent, efficient and pensioner-focused service delivery.
She added that the directorate would continue to work towards improving pension administration and ensuring timely payment of retirees’ benefits.
A Federal High Court, Lagos has declared Mrs. Ebele Okpala, a female banker with Keystone Bank, wanted over alleged N35 million fraud.
Apart from declaring the banker who is said to be outside the country wanted, Justice deinde Dipeolu, trial judge in the matter, also directed the Department of State Security (DSS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), to arrest her upon arriving the country.
Justice Dipeolu made the above order while granting a motion ex-parte marked FHC/L/530C/2024, filed and moved by M. Bello, on behalf of the Nigeria Police.
In the motion, Ebele Okpala and one Perpetual Onyeto, also a banker were listed as first and second defendants/respondents in the suit, while DSS, NIS and NCS were listed as cited parties/respondents.
In urging the court to make the above orders, Bello, informed the court that the application was pursuant to several sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, and under the court’s inherent jurisdiction. Adding that the application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by Inspector Tope Akerele of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos.
In granting the application, Justice Dipeolu held, “After considering the application and the supporting affidavit, the request had merit and granted all the reliefs sought by the prosecution.
“That an order is hereby made that the 1st defendant/despondent be declared wanted and placed on the wanted list of the Nigeria Police Special Fraud Unit, 13, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos until she is arrested.
“That an order is hereby made compelling cited parties/respondents to assist in apprehending 1st defendant/Respondent once he enters into the country.
“That an order is hereby made permitting the Publication of the name of the 1st defendant/despondent in the National Daily Newspapers and Social Media handles by the Nigeria Police Special Fraud Unity Ikoyi, Lagos for the purpose of fulfilling the requirement of the Order 1 above.”
Recall that both the wanted banker and the second defendant/respondent were previously arraigned before the court by the operatives of the police Special Fraud Unit, PSFU.
Specifically, the two bankers were arraigned before the court sometimes in September 2024, on alleged conspiracy, theft, money laundering, fraudulent lift of lien placed on bank’s customer’s account and obtaining the sum of N35 million by false presence.
World Bank Okays New $1.25Bn Loan for Nigeria
Xenophobia: MTN Nigeria Belongs to Nigerians, Not Only South Africans — Toriola
SEC Grants Approval to Luno, Other Crypto Firms under Regulatory Sandbox
MTN Nigeria Celebrates Volunteers at Y’ello Care Impact Showcase
Listicle: 10 Essential Meta Safety Tools Every Parent and Teen Should Know
Mobile Internet Gender Gap Widest in Africa – GSMA
London Strengthens Global Investment Ties with Africa @ First Ever London-Africa Business Summit
FG Targets Alleged N3tn Capital Flight, Opens Airtime Credit Market to Nigerian Fintechs
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
NASENI Trains 50 Women in Kano on Renewable Energy Technologies Under She-Powers Initiative
Telecom2 days agoMTN Foundation, Microsoft Empower Nigerian Educators with AI Integration Skills
E-Financial3 days agoUBA Surprises Thousands of Customers with Over ₦400 Million Cash Bonus
Broadcasting2 days agoSpotify partners Afro Nation Portugal to expand African music experience
Telecom2 days agoNCC Raises Alarm as Nigeria Lags in Fibre Internet, Pushes for Urgent Expansion
E-Financial2 days agoCBN Cracks Down, Revokes Licences of 46 Microfinance Banks
Telecom2 days agoAirtel Nigeria CEO Urges Adoption of Intelligent Technology Platforms to Accelerate National Growth
E-Business2 days agoReport Reveals More than Half of Users Encountered Fraud or Scams Online
Telecom2 days agoGoogle Rolls Out Fresh AI Projects Across Africa, Opens New Innovation Hub