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.
The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating deductions of taxes and sundry charges from the earnings of civil and public servants has given commercial banks a four-day deadline to submit all requested documents.
House of Rep
The committee, chaired by Hon. Kelechi Nwogwu, issued the ultimatum at the commencement of its investigation, following a motion earlier moved by the House Chief Whip, Hon. Usman Bello Kumo, on alleged deductions from civil servants’ salaries.
Nwogwu insisted that Chief Executive Officers of affected financial institutions must appear in person before the panel, rejecting representatives sent by GT Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and other banks.
He explained that the panel was mandated to ensure that all deductions of charges by banks on customers’ accounts were fair and properly applied.
The committee disclosed that invitations had also been extended to the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and all commercial banks operating in Nigeria.
“You cannot appear here without an identity. We are here on the mandate of the people who elected us into parliament. We have resolved to meet next week on Wednesday.
“You must submit all requested documents by Monday, May 1,” Nwogwu said.
He warned that any bank that failed to comply with the deadline would face sanctions, adding that the committee would put the CEOs on oath during the next sitting.
The investigation continues next week.
Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has said that Federal Government is intensifying its use of digital-economy initiatives to curb corruption among young Nigerians.
Speaking at the commemoration of the 2025 International Anti-Corruption Day held on Tuesday in Abuja, the AGF said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has deliberately positioned technology, innovation training, and digital-skills development at the heart of its anti-corruption strategy for young people.
The event, organized by Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR) domiciled at the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) had the theme: “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity”.
Fagbemi, who delivered the keynote address, said the government believes that empowered, skilled and economically engaged youths are less vulnerable to corrupt influences.
According to him, programmes such as the 3 Million Technical Talents Programme (3MTT) and the recently launched Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA) are already equipping millions of young Nigerians with ICT and digital-innovation skills, reducing their dependence on patronage systems that fuel corrupt practices.
“A hopeful youth is harder to corrupt; an engaged youth is harder to mislead; and an empowered youth is a powerful force for national transformation,” Fagbemi said.
He explained that by investing in digital literacy, tech entrepreneurship and innovation-driven training, the Tinubu administration aims to create a generation of young Nigerians who are globally competitive and resistant to corruption.
Beyond digital skills, the AGF pointed at several government efforts to expand educational access through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), and support youth entrepreneurship via the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) and the iDICE programme, providing funding, training and mentorship for young innovators in tech, entertainment, agriculture and design.
Fagbemi added that the inclusion of young people in governance, through appointments and expanded civic-engagement platforms, was another strategic tool to strengthen integrity and transparency in public life.
He urged stakeholders to deepen efforts to integrate anti-corruption values into school curricula, establish integrity clubs, mentor young leaders, and leverage ICT tools to promote transparency, whistleblowing and public accountability.
Earlier, the Head of TUGAR, Mrs Jane Onwumere said the gathering was especially meaningful because it reflected a shared truth: that tomorrow’s integrity rests significantly in the hands of the youth.
“The theme therefore, is not just a slogan but a call to action and a reminder that young people are not only beneficiaries of good governance, they are co-architects of it.
“Corruption has affected lives and the economy negatively in many ways. One of such is the “japa wave” which has seen young Nigerians leave the country in droves in search of greener pastures. This syndrome has drained the country of resources and human capital. It has in many situations split the family unit, a critical foundation for anti-corruption efforts”, Onwumere, added.
In his speech, the Executive Secretary, NEITI, Hon. Musa Sarkin Adar expressed the agency’s commitment to empowering young Nigerians not only as advocates for accountability but also as active partners in shaping the future of integrity in the extractive industries and beyond.
“At NEITI, we recognize that corruption undermines opportunities for growth, distorts resource governance, and deepens inequality. We also know that a united, informed, and courageous generation can dismantle these barriers.
“This is why NEITI will continue to expand civic education, strengthen our reporting mechanisms, support youth-led innovation, and create more platforms for constructive engagement with young professionals, students, and entrepreneurs”, he added.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked the Investments and Securities Tribunal to order the freezing of bank accounts belonging to Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) and 25 other defendants accused of defrauding Nigerians of about ₦1.3 trillion through an unlawful digital asset investment scheme.
CBEX
The request was made during the first sitting of the 6th Tribunal in case IST/OA/02/2025 between the SEC and CBEX with 25 others, presided over by tribunal chairman, Hon. Aminu Jinaidu.
The SEC urged the tribunal to compel commercial banks and financial institutions nationwide to freeze all accounts linked to the defendants.
It also sought orders for the seizure of houses and assets allegedly acquired with funds sourced from unsuspecting investors.
According to the commission, CBEX operated illegally by posing as a digital assets platform and capital market operator without registration.
“CBEX is an unregistered platform promising its users 100 percent return on investments within 30 days, which is unlawful and contrary to Section 3(b) of the Investments and Securities Act 2025,” the SEC told the tribunal.
The regulator disclosed that international authorities had previously raised concerns about CBEX.
The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong issued an advisory on April 23, 2024, warning that the platform was a suspicious virtual asset entity.
The tribunal noted that CBEX and the other defendants failed to appear in court and were not represented by legal counsel.
Hon. Jinaidu therefore ordered that hearing notices be served on the defendants through national newspapers.
CBEX reportedly entered the Nigerian market in July 2024, operating via a website and mobile application, while claiming to use advanced Artificial Intelligence to generate unusually high profits from cryptocurrency trading.
Investors were promised returns of up to 100 percent within a 40 to 45 day lock-in period.
The scheme later collapsed, triggering widespread losses. Investigations revealed that CBEX functioned as a Ponzi scheme that siphoned more than ₦1.3 trillion, estimated at about $800 million, before disappearing.
The matter has been adjourned to January 27, 2026.
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