E-Business
Almost Half of World’s Top Websites Risky – Report

Nearly half (46%) of the Internet’s top one million Web sites, as ranked by Alexa, are risky.
This is according to a study released yesterday by US-based cyber security firm Menlo Security, which notes this is largely due to vulnerable software running on Web servers and on underlying ad network domains.
The firm says the results are significant because risky sites have never been easier to exploit, and traditional security products fail to provide adequate protection.
Attackers have their veritable choice of half the Web to exploit, allowing them to launch phishing attacks from legitimate sites, it notes.
Menlo Security considers a site risky if the homepage or associated background sites are running vulnerable software, if the site is ‘known-bad’, or if it has had a security incident in the past 12 months.
Vulnerable software was the leading factor in classifying a site as risky, it points out. Of the one million sites, 355 804 were either running vulnerable software or accessing background domains running vulnerable software; 166 853 fell into known-bad categories; while 31 938 experienced a recent security incident.
Another key finding was that background requests sending content to Web browsers outnumber user requests at a ratio of 25:1.
The culprit sites found in the study include destinations that are widely unknown by name; however, these large ad service networks are found hidden behind the world’s most visited media sites and include sites for 24-hour news, weather sites and major metro newspapers.
“Browsing the Web is a leap into the unknown. We already knew that ad networks present risk to the public and businesses, but the extreme levels reached in 2016, affecting 46% of the most visited Web sites, mean that enterprises must address the problem,” says Kowsik Guruswamy, CTO at Menlo Security.
Greg Maudsley, senior director of product marketing, and Jason Steer, solutions architect, EMEA at Menlo Security, point out that risk is not just associated with the sites that users visit. Each site a user visits generates requests to on average 25 requests to background Web sites, such as social media and advertising.
They explain business and economy Web sites feature highly when the information is sliced all ways for risky issues (third highest for known-bad sites, highest for domains associated with recent threat history, and highest for sites with known vulnerable software), but almost all businesses would not block access to business and economy, leading many businesses into a false sense of security and more cyber incidents to deal with.
The security experts say uncategorised Web sites are the highest type of sites associated with being known-bad, followed by adult and pornography as well as business and economy. Vulnerable software was found to be 16 years old in the one million subset.
Menlo Security notes today, exploit kits are readily available to anyone, as are the instructional videos that provide step-by-step execution instructions.
The expertise requirement has all but vanished. Underscoring this point, the average age of suspected cyber attackers dropped from 24 to 17.
Compounding the issue, it says the vast majority of malware prevention products attempt to prevent attacks by distinguishing between “good” and “bad” elements, and then implement policies intended to allow “good” content and block the “bad”.
In every case, the firm explains, the detection is never perfect, and thus the policy choice involves a level of risk that the wrong decision is being made. Additionally, enterprises regularly allow access to popular Web sites for the sake of productivity. Given the risk associated with nearly half of popular sites, a Web security strategy based on categorisation is effectively useless, says Menlo Security.
It adds although traditional phishing attacks involve the creation of a new imposter, or “spoofed” site, the sheer volume of vulnerable trusted sites makes it very easy for attackers to compromise a legitimate site and send that link as part of a phishing campaign.
With this approach, the firm notes, attackers no longer need to worry that URL filtering will thwart their efforts, and they avoid anomalies in the link address, such as misspellings, special characters, or numbers that might raise suspicions.
Clicking on what is a perfectly legitimate link within such a phishing e-mail can expose a user to a drive-by malware exploit that could deliver ransomware, or mark the beginning of a larger breach.
Risk mitigation
To mitigate the risks, Maudsley and Steer recommend new threat prevention techniques, such as isolation and remote browsing.
They add Web site owners should make sure they are running up-to-date software, patch vulnerable software, and ensure only trusted resource files are loaded from third-party servers. Users should use browser extensions and plugins that stop execution of JavaScript, stop using Flash altogether, and use Adblockers to block ads on sites where possible, they note.
Gartner recommends isolation as part of its adaptive security architecture – this approach does not try to distinguish between good and bad, but assumes all active content is risky.
E-Business
NITDA Reaffirms Commitment to 95% Digital Literacy by 2030, as UBEC Pledges Collaboration

Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s unwavering commitment to achieving 95% digital literacy across Nigeria by the year 2030, with an ambitious milestone of 70% by 2027.
This disclosure was made in total alignment with the present administration’s priority areas of reforming the economy for sustained inclusive growth and accelerating diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing, and innovation.
Making this known during a collaborative meeting hosted by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Inuwa highlighted the government’s strategic prioritisation of human capital development as central to its national transformation agenda.
“We started this journey in 2023 when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came on board and he made it clear that economic diversification and inclusivity are part of the administration’s agenda,” he noted.
“And the president outlined this in 8 priority areas to achieve the vision, with priority number 7 specifically focused on accelerating industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing, and innovation,” he added.
Recognising the importance of digital fluency in achieving this agenda, he stated that NITDA is committed to investing in the digital empowerment of citizens through the development of the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF), a strategic blueprint aligned with international best practices.
He added that to tailor the framework to Nigeria’s specific needs, 6 core competency areas were incorporated to include device and software operations, information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, content creation, safety, and problem solving.
He explained that the framework would address all levels of digital fluency, from basic, intermediate to advanced levels, to make digital skills accessible to every Nigerian, from primary school pupils to working professionals.
According to Inuwa, despite data limitations, NITDA estimates that Nigeria’s digital literacy rate currently stands at 50%, up from 44% in 2021, based on extrapolations from the World Bank’s Better Life Report.
The NITDA DG disclosed that the agency has been working closely with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) in developing a curriculum for digital literacy, which can be infused into formal education. Stating that the visit is a continuation of NITDA’s ongoing engagements with key education stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), all aimed at advancing digital literacy across all levels of learning.
Inuwa also revealed ongoing collaborations with global platforms such as Coursera to train teachers using AI-powered lesson generation tools and provide scalable online training.
It is worth recalling that late last year, NITDA partnered with the Nasarawa State University in collaboration with CISCO in launching the Digital Learning for NSUK (DL4NSUK) initiative to enhance digital literacy in tertiary institutions, and equipping graduates with the skills needed to be digitally proficient and globally competitive.
While stressing that the entire process, from curriculum development to classroom delivery, would require a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, Inuwa said, “This is not a journey we can walk alone; we must bring everyone on board, education stakeholders, technology providers, state governments, and international partners.”
In response to the DG’s remarks, UBEC Executive Secretary, Hajiya Aisha Garba, confirmed that the Commission has officially received the digital literacy curriculum developed by NITDA and NERDC and has commenced internal review processes.
She acknowledged the curriculum as robust and forward-looking but stressed the need for simplification to suit early learners and teachers, citing challenges such as curriculum overload, limited teacher capacity, and inadequate infrastructure as key barriers to effective implementation.
She pledged that UBEC, in partnership with the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), will lead efforts to equip schools with computers and solar-powered infrastructure to support real learning.
“We’re committed to working with NITDA and NERDC to refine the curriculum, train teachers, and ensure effective delivery. Let us align the technical vision with grassroots realities to make a lasting impact,” she concluded.
To formalise the implementation of the meeting’s resolutions, a joint inter-agency committee was established to develop strategic plans that will ensure the effective rollout of the digital literacy initiative, to equip young Nigerians with the essential digital skills required to thrive in an increasingly dynamic and technology-driven global landscape.
E-Business
Jumia Replatforms its Retail Media Program to Mirakl Ads to Enhance Marketplace Advertising

Jumia, e-Commerce platform in Africa, has partnered with Mirakl to elevate its marketplace advertising capabilities by deploying Mirakl Ads, a retail media solution uniquely designed to optimize performance for both first-party and third-party sellers.
This move strengthens Jumia’s efforts to deliver more value to its sellers, enhance the customer experience, and unlock profitable and sustainable new sources of revenue. Retail media is a rapidly growing sector within the e-commerce industry, expected to reach $204 billion by 2027 with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.2%.
Jumia’s adoption of Mirakl Ads positions the company at the forefront of digital advertising innovation in Africa, unlocking significant opportunities to increase revenue generation. With growing usage across its platform, Jumia is well-placed to capitalize on this momentum by delivering improved advertising tools to sellers and more relevant, personalized product recommendations to customers.
“Advertising is a key growth lever in our marketplace strategy, and this partnership with Mirakl allows us to accelerate that journey with speed and scale.
“By integrating Mirakl Ads, we’re empowering our sellers with smarter tools and delivering a better, more personalized experience to our customers. It also positions us to unlock new revenue streams while deepening engagement across our platform. Importantly, this partnership supports our ambition to grow gross profit and accelerate our path to profitability,” said Francis Dufay, CEO of Jumia.
The collaboration is a testament to Mirakl’s ability to rapidly deploy enterprise-grade solutions, with Jumia launching Mirakl Ads in just two months. This showcases the platform’s ease of integration and fast time-to-value. Now live, the solution equips Jumia’s advertising ecosystem with advanced automation, AI-powered optimization, and seamless campaign management.
With Mirakl Ads, all advertisers – from the biggest brands to the smallest marketplace sellers – can now boost their sales by leveraging advertising campaigns in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Ivory Coast.
“Jumia’s decision to replatform to Mirakl Ads is a powerful validation of our platform’s ability to deliver immediate and measurable impact for leading marketplaces. By combining Mirakl’s cutting-edge retail media technology with Jumia’s deep market reach, we are enabling sellers to grow faster and customers to benefit from a more relevant, engaging experience. This partnership is a true milestone, not only for Jumia and Mirakl, but for the future of digital commerce across Africa.” said Adrien Nussenbaum, cofounder and co-CEO of Mirakl.
Through this partnership, Jumia is taking a decisive step in accelerating monetization, improving customer engagement, and advancing its long-term financial performance and profitability.
E-Business
Galaxy Backbone, Rural Electrification Agency Commit to Deepening Digital and Energy Access Across Nigeria

In a major step towards deepening Nigeria’s digital and energy infrastructure, Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a brief but impactful ceremony held in Abuja.
The MoU signals a collaborative effort between both agencies to enhance Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda by integrating reliable energy solutions with cutting-edge ICT infrastructure, especially in higher institutions, Government institutions, underserved and rural communities across the country.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju, described the partnership as “a landmark moment in Nigeria’s journey towards a digitally empowered, sustainably powered, and inclusively connected nation.”
“This partnership exemplifies what is possible when two visionary government institutions come together, united by shared goals and driven by the desire to improve the lives of Nigerians everywhere,” he said.
Professor Adeyanju emphasized that while Galaxy Backbone’s core mandate is to provide secure digital infrastructure that powers government operations, reliable and sustainable energy particularly in rural areas is essential to fully actualize digital transformation.
Major highlights of the MoU include:
- Solar electrification of some of GBB’s Metro Fibre sites in Abuja by the REA.
- Powering Hostels of Higher Institutions across the country through the Fibre to Hostel Project being driven by the Federal Ministry of Communications Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE).
- Support for the rollout of the 774 Local Government Digitization Initiative, beginning with six pilot Local Government Areas.
- Provision of LANs, access points, cloud services, colocation infrastructure, and temporary connectivity to enhance REA’s operational facilities nationwide.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency Mr Abba Aliyu, in his remarks, expressed optimism that this collaboration will further bridge the digital and energy divide across Nigeria. He noted that by combining REA’s achievements in expanding energy access with GBB’s robust ICT backbone, both agencies are poised to create lasting impact across governance, education, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.
This partnership is also in direct alignment with the Renewed Hope Digital Transformation Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which envisions an inclusive digital economy powered by innovation and sustainable energy.
The ceremony was attended by top management from both organizations as well as members of the media.
With today’s signing, Galaxy Backbone and the Rural Electrification Agency have set the tone for stronger, smarter, and more inclusive public service delivery powered by strategic inter-agency collaboration.
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