With billions of devices now online, new threats pop-up every second with more people becoming susceptible to attacks. To this end, Cybersafe Foundation, a cyber-security awareness organization in collaboration with the Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of Nigerian Financial Institutions (CCISONFI) have trained members of Nigerian Information Technology Reporters Association, NITRA, on cybersecurity awareness and vulnerabilities mitigation antics.

L-R: Bharat Soni – Chief Information Security Officer – Gtco Plc ; Confidence Staveley – Founder, Cybersafe Foundation ; Favour Femi-Oyewole – Group Chief Information Security Officer – Access Bank Plc; Dr. Obadare Peter Adewale – Chief Visionary Officer/ Co-Founder, Digital Encode; Igboa Abumere – Chairman Committee of Chief Information Security Officer of Nigerian Financial Institution (CCISONFI) at a capacity building workshop for ICT journalists in Lagos on Friday.

The training which took place on Friday, December 3, 2021 at Romey Hall, Awolowo Road in Ikoyi, Lagos, was themed: ‘NoGoFallMaga’.

The training was basically designed to raise awareness on emerging cyber security trends, hazards of cyber threats and assaults, as well as how to avoid them.
In their presentations, the experts said that cybersecurity threats and attacks are not going away and that the occurrence could become the next pandemic.

The experts highlighted the dangers of corporations, governments, and individuals refusing to build barriers and walls to protect their platforms, digital tools, and applications from cyber-attacks.

They, in various presentations, exposed participants to various cyber security concerns considered as digital pandemic.

On his part, Femi- Oyewole, Group Chief Information Security Officer, Access Bank, warned that cyber-attacks would be the next post-Covid pandemic saying that it is critical for businesses and people to begin building resilience and backups for their systems, platforms, and apps. She urged organisations to check their ability to bounce back should they suffer any attack.

“If anything happens to you, how quickly can you bounce back? Have you checked your resilience, do you have a backup”, she asked.

According to her, integrity, confidentiality, and availability of a good cybersecurity system must be put in place by organisations as part of their cybersecurity strategies.
Femi-Oyewole continued “You need to put necessary measures in place to quickly detect any breaches and remedy. Vulnerability is any flaw or weakness that can be exploited. There should be counter measures in place to prevent, minimize or report any breaches on time so that corrective measures can be taken up immediately”.

Bharat Soni, Chief Information and Security Officer, Gtco Plc, said organizations should work to mitigate cyber security challenges such as insider fraud, business email compromises, ransomware, and phishing.

He further explained that cyber threats and assaults have increased due to technological advancements, social-economic considerations, and insufficient criminal justice. He listed the most recent cyber security breaches as Twitter compromise 2020, Colonial Ransomware Attack 2021, and Cyber Breach of an Undisclosed Nigerian Bank 2021.

For him, social media has become a challenge to reporting cyber incidents as many people do not check the authenticity of news posted on these social media platforms.

Soni noted that this is why media collaboration is critical to cybersecurity awareness.

CCISONFI Chairman and the Chief Information Security Officer, Stanbic IBTC, Igboa Abumere noted that there is need for awareness despite the cybersecurity regulations. “We are highly regulated but we still need to know how to protect ourselves,” he stated.

Dr. Obadare Peter Adewale, Chief Visionary Officer/ Co-Founder, Digital Encode, enjoined ICT journalists to get equipped with knowledge of trends in the cybersecurity ecosystem. This he said, will empower the journalists to inform the public with accurate and factual cybersecurity information in their reportage.

The capacity building workshop also had in attendance Founder, Cybersafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley with over 30 ICT journalists and media entrepreneurs.