E-Business
Fighting ID theft at ATM With Biometrics
The increasing activities of fraudsters who through sending Short Message Service and emails to unsuspecting members of the public requesting them to disclose their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) debit card Personal Identification Number on the pretence that they have won in an unknown promo, has raised concerns on effective way to curb the menace.
To this end, that Central Bank of Nigeria recently directed operators in the card business to upgrade their technology to Europe Mastercard Visa (EMV) technology, a Chip and Pin card believed to have more security features than the current magnetic stripe that is widely used.
Although EMV cards have been proven to assist considerably to curbing identity theft at ATM it has not offered a 100 percent solution to the problem. In Europe, where the technology is fully in use there are still increase in identity theft at ATMs, which a long away to show that it does not offer a complete solution to the menace.
Against this backdrop, stakeholders in the industry are seeking for adoption of a technology that will offer near complete solution to identity theft at ATM. They are canvassing for Biometric technology.
Biometrics is the automated recognition of people via distinctive anatomical and behavioral traits has the potential to overcome many of those problems associated with identity theft, experts say.
Compared with a physical token such as a bank card or with the knowledge of a secret such as a PIN, biometric traits are profoundly more difficult to forge, copy, share, misplace or guess. Indeed, they offer the only way of determining whether a person has been issued multiple official documents, such as a driver’s license or passport, under different names. Yet they are quite easy to use as proof of identity.
For these reasons, biometric systems have been gaining popularity in recent years. Laptops and mobile phones that can recognize a fingerprint, for instance, are now commercially available.
According to Dr. O. Osuagwu of department of Computer Science Benue State University, in some countries biometric security is employed to safeguard items such as ATM cards and passports, to determine whether a person can rightfully enter a building or to ensure that someone is entitled to welfare payments. "These systems are far from perfect. But with inexpensive sensors and powerful microprocessors now available, biometric technology is certain to become more pervasive," he said.
Vascular recognition he said already has won wide acceptance in banking. More than Japanese banks and credit unions have made hundreds of ATMs featuring vascular sensor available for everyday use. In the vascular recognition systems developed by Fujitsu and TechSphere, after inserting a banking card in a cash machine, the user is prompted to hold a hand near an infrared light source. The light source is paired with a charge-couple device similar to the one used in standard digital photography. As the near-infrared light passes through the body tissue, it is reflected by the hemoglobin in the blood. This reflected light picked up by the CCD reveals an image of the blood vessels. Within a second or two, the system filters the digitized image, creates a template that it can compare with the authorized user, and decides whether they match.
Nigeria Communications investigation reveals that some of the major banks in the country are making plans to deploy Biometrics ATMs in the country to address the problem of identity theft at ATM which is fast gaining popularity among Nigerians. This has become necessary in view of impact of the machine in reducing large number of customers at banking halls.
E-Business
Transcorp Hotels Delivers Stellar H1 Results, Declares Over ₦1Bn Dividend

Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.
The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.
In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.
Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.
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.
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