E-Business
EFCC Arrests Suspected Counterfeit Software Resell Haven
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arrested another suspect, Arewa Systems Limited, in Ikeja area of Lagos who also specializes in the production of High Quality Counterfeit (HQC) software.
This is coming barely 3 months after the invasion of another suspected High Quality Counterfeit Software Reseller within the same vicinity.
The raid which followed a consumer tip-off and petition to the local law enforcement authorities is aimed at curbing unsafe play in the country, and addressing the harmful impact to individuals as well as the Nigerian economy caused by pirated software.
“The strident message that this intervention sends is that computer software albeit an intellectual property qualifies better as a literary work that must be protected from the exploitation of merchants of counterfeiting and crass opportunism.
“Additionally, the theft of such creative expressions fixed in a tangible medium of expression constitutes a serious economic crime in Nigeria under Sections 18 & 46 of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission Act, Cap E1 LFN 2010 and Section 491 Criminal Code Act Cap C28 LFN 2010.To all the dealers in imitation and fake products, big or small, it is no longer business as usual” said Francis Chuka Agbu, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), partner in the Law firm of Lexavier Partners and Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy Attorney in Nigeria.
Government is not alone in this quest to tackle the menace as many organisations in the country are clamouring for a safer business space, and frequently organise awareness workshops and enlightenment campaigns one of which is the Microsoft Play it Safe Day designed to drive global awareness across businesses, government organisations, and consumers of the increased risk of cyber security issues as a direct result of pirated software.
According to Temofe Ugbona, anti-piracy manager, Microsoft Nigeria, “Quite a number of resellers abound in the country that are in possession of high quality counterfeit software that is packaged like genuine software – a trend resulting in many consumers, who believe they are purchasing software from a reliable source, unknowingly becoming victims to software piracy.
These consumers turn out to be ‘accidental pirates’ – people who unintentionally purchase counterfeit software from resellers and only later find out they have been duped.
In doing so, they expose themselves to a plethora of risks, which on the long-run can prove extremely costly for individuals, and often disastrous for businesses.
Honest resellers, who sell only genuine software, are put at an unfair disadvantage, and ultimately the whole economy feels the effects”.
According to a new joint study conducted by IDC and the National University of Singapore (NUS), global consumers are expected to spend $25 billion and waste 1.2 billion hours this year because of security threats and costly computer fixes stemming from malware on pirated software.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between genuine and non-genuine software unless consumers are discerning and know what to look out for.
While reiterating the need to play it safe, Microsoft urges consumers to ask questions, investigate the packaging, watch out for “too good to be true” prices and demand genuine software – to ensure what you pay for and protect your family or your business from the threat of malware associated with pirated or counterfeit software.
Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts at the 10th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2025 held recently, talked about supply chain attacks and reported that by the end of 2024 a total of 14,000 malicious packages were found in open-source projects, a 48% increase compared to the end of 2023. 42 million versions of open-source packages have been examined by Kaspersky throughout 2024 in search for vulnerabilities.
Open-source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Popular open-source packages include GoMod, Maven, NuGet, npm, PyPI, and others.
These are tools that power countless applications and help developers easily find, install, and manage pre-built code libraries, making it simpler to build software by reusing code others have written. Attackers take advantage of the popularity of these and other packages.
In March 2025, the Lazarus Group was reported to have deployed several malicious npm packages, which were downloaded multiple times before removal. These packages contained malware to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data, and deploy backdoors, targeting developers’ systems across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The attack leveraged GitHub repositories for added legitimacy, highlighting the group’s sophisticated supply chain tactics. Kaspersky’s GReAT also found other npm packages related to this attack. Malicious npm packages could have been integrated into web development, cryptocurrency platforms, and enterprise software, risking widespread data theft and financial losses.
In 2024, a sophisticated backdoor was discovered in XZ Utils versions 5.6.0 and 5.6.1, a widely used compression library in Linux distributions. Inserted by a trusted contributor, the malicious code targeted SSH servers, enabling remote command execution and threatening countless systems globally.
Detected before widespread exploitation due to performance anomalies, the incident highlighted the dangers of supply chain attacks. XZ Utils is integral to operating systems, cloud servers, and IoT devices, making its compromise a threat to critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.
In 2024, Kaspersky’s GReAT discovered that attackers uploaded malicious Python packages like chatgpt-python and chatgpt-wrapper to PyPI, mimicking legitimate tools for interacting with ChatGPT APIs.
These packages, designed to steal credentials and deploy backdoors, capitalised on the popularity of AI development to trick developers into downloading them. These packages could have been used in AI development, chatbot integrations, and data analytics platforms, endangering sensitive AI workflows and user data.
“Open-source software is the backbone of many modern solutions, but its openness is being weaponised. The 50% rise in malicious packages by the end of 2024 shows attackers are actively embedding sophisticated backdoors and data stealers in popular packages, which millions rely on.
“Without rigorous vetting and real-time monitoring, a single compromised package can trigger a global breach. Organisations need to secure the supply chain before the next XZ Utils-level attack succeeds,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Research Center for Russia and CIS at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched an investigation into allegations that the confidentiality and integrity of candidates’ personal data may have been compromised by hackers.
The Commission initiated the inquiry following concerns over possible data breaches during examinations.
Preliminary findings indicate that several examination centres may not have implemented adequate technical and organizational measures to safeguard candidates’ personal information, as required under data protection regulations.
Although the incident reportedly affected 379, 997 candidates, the NDPC’s investigation is poised to cover a systemic audit of data processing and third parties.
It will be recalled that JAMB recently admitted that a technical error on its platform affected a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
Further investigation led to the arrest of at least 20 suspects who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force.
Cyber security firm, Kaspersky, has once again warned that sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target Africa as ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs) escalate across the region.
Speaking at the company’s annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, the cybersecurity firm’s Global Research and Analysis Team highlighted growing digital threats affecting African nations.
Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa emerged as hotspots, with Kenya recording one of the highest web threat incident rates at 20.1% in first quarter 2025.
“While ransomware is less prevalent in Africa due to lower levels of digitisation and economic constraints, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are seeing a sharp rise in attacks,” said Sergey Lozhkin, head of META and APAC regions at Kaspersky.
Kaspersky noted a 0.01 percentage point increase in African ransomware cases year-on-year, reaching 0.41%, still below global and Middle Eastern averages, but a troubling sign for the continent’s emerging digital infrastructure.
Experts warned that attackers are refining their tactics, shifting focus to unconventional entry points like IoT devices, smart appliances, and misconfigured hardware.
“As these economies expand digitally, sectors such as manufacturing, finance and government are becoming key targets,” said Lozhkin
The cyber-crime landscape is evolving quickly, fuelled by AI tools and dark web access to large language models, which enable less skilled actors to launch convincing phishing and malware campaigns.
Groups like FunkSec, which uses AI-generated code and a low-cost ransom model, are redefining ransomware operations.
“African organisations face the dual challenge of expanding digital footprints and limited cybersecurity awareness. This makes layered defense strategies, including network segmentation, real-time monitoring and regular staff training, essential,” stated Lozhkin
Kaspersky continues to monitor 25 active APT groups in the META region, including SideWinder and MuddyWater, some of which are known to target African institutions.
To bolster defenses, the firm recommends using tools such as its free Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business and the Kaspersky Next suite for threat visibility and response.
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