E-Business
Experts Caution Firms on Public Cloud on Data Security

Information and communications technology experts have urged organisations using public cloud to feel personally responsible for the data they take to the public Cloud irrespective of the security policies the cloud provider must have put in-place.
“They should consider using data encryption technologies, multiple level of authentication, enforce strong password policy and ensure that a backup system is provided. It is important that organizations and individuals who consume cloud services ensure they are constantly studying and following cyber security trends to enable them to adjust according to new security realities,” they said.
This is coming against the backdrop of recent Sophos state of cloud security 2020 report, which says that 43 per cent of organisations in Nigeria on public cloud have been hit by Malware also 57 per cent of Nigerian organizations are with public cloud data exposed in the last year. This is highest globally according to the report.
The report revealed that 46 per cent of Nigerian organisations with cloud account credentials stolen in the last year.
Obinna Adumike, chief technology officer, Cloud Exchange West Africa, advised organisations and individuals when creating cloud accounts, as a matter of importance to design a security policy that ensures that each cloud platform has a unique and independent credential and avoid reusing credentials.
“Password policy that uses Alphanumeric and special characters are very important with not less than 8 characters depending on the security level required. Also ensuring that such credentials are not saved or cached by browsers, applications and cloud services is very essential,” he noted.
Responding to the report on Nigeria Remi Adejumo, chief executive officer, Cloud Flex, said that 90 per cent of Nigerian presence on the public cloud is with the hyperscalers – AWS /Azure.
“70 per cent of incidents are insider jobs. Security is 50/50 between the public cloud and the customer. And we are protected against each other. Majority of Security breaches are achieved through phishing or malware but it is independent of the public cloud edge security. Also the use of a VPN protects the link between the customer and the public cloud,” he said.
Adejumon further explained that the cloud platform is a software virtualisation of physical hardware. “It allows the virtualised platform to achieve a degree of granularity that would be uneconomical or ridiculously expensive in a physical environment.
“Security concerns associated with the Cloud is shared by the cloud provider and the customer. The provider must ensure that the infrastructure is secured, and the customer ensures that the data and applications are secured,” he stated.
Cloud computing has been described as the greatest game changer since the creation of the internet and is one of the fastest growing areas of technology today.
According to him, “the annual spend on Cloud computing is expected to triple in the next two years. It can be simply defined as renting time on a computing infrastructure over the internet, rather than building your own from the ground up. In a way it could be described as outsourcing your computer infrastructure”.
E-Business
Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
E-Business
NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
E-Business
NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.
The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.
The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.
In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.
“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.
Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.
“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.
He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework. He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.
According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.
Earlier in her opening remarks, Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.
Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.
“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”
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