E-Business
Global Hunt for Nigerian Spreading Computer Virus
A Nigerian allegedly working alone around Abuja has stirred a global hunt as he orchestrated numerous malware infection campaigns targeting more than 4,000 organisations globally over the past four months, a cyber security company claimed.
www.Securityweek.com quoting Check Point security researchers said the attacks targeted various companies in industries such as oil & gas, manufacturing, banking, and construction, in an attempt to steal data and commit fraud.
Many of the companies are leading international names and some have had their defenses breached by the attacks, the security researchers reveal.
According to Check Point, at least a dozen companies confirmed they have been infected during the campaign, including a marine and energy solutions company in Croatia, a transportation company in Abu Dhabi, a mining company in Egypt, a construction company in Dubai, an oil & gas firm in Kuwait, and a construction organization in Germany.
Despite the large scale campaign, behind it is not an expert gang of cybercriminals or a nation state actor, but “a relatively unskilled man in his mid-20s, operating from a location near the capital of Nigeria,” Check Point discovered.
Working on his own, the Nigerian uses fraudulent emails seemingly coming from oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco, the world’s second largest daily oil producer.
The phishing messages target financial departments within companies in an attempt to trick employees into revealing company bank details or into opening a malware-infected attachment.
The malware used in these attacks includes NetWire, a remote access Trojan that provides its operator with full control over infected machines, and Hawkeye, a software for logging key strokes (malware already associated with Nigerian cybercriminals).
The attacks eventually resulted in a total of 14 successful infections. The cybercriminal ended up earning thousands of dollars in the process, the researchers said.
Despite showing a low level of cyber-skills, using crude and unsophisticated fraudulent emails, with almost no research or social engineering involved in creating them, the attacker was successful in his attempts.
The attacker used generic email titles, phrased as “Dear Sir/Ms,” sent the same email to numerous targets, “all in blind carbon copy, urging victims to send back banking details, perhaps for future scams.”
He sent the emails from email addresses [email protected], and [email protected]. The fraudster used old, generic and readily available online malware, as well as freeware to ‘scrape’ email addresses from corporate websites and used them as targets for his campaigns.
“The fact that the campaign was still effective, despite using only basic cyber-criminal techniques, highlights just how much of a problem these business email compromise (BEC) attacks have become,” Check Point said.
Since uncovering the campaign and establishing its origins, Check Point’s research team has notified law enforcement authorities in Nigeria and internationally and shared its findings with them.
Checkpoint said the Nigerian in his 20s operates social media accounts, where you he uses the motto: ‘get rich or die trying’.
His attack campaign uses fraudulent emails which appear to originate from oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco, the world’s second largest daily oil producer, targeting financial staff within companies to trick them into revealing company bank details, or open the email’s malware-infected attachment. Last year, the FBI revealed that losses caused by BEC scams exceeded $3.1 billion.
Victims are estimated to lose between $25,000 and $75,000 on average, per attack. However, it’s not only financial losses that victims should be concerned about, but also the fact that “the malware used by the criminal to infect organizations gives remote control over infected machines, and can perform keylogging functions.
This enables harvesting of a variety of information from infected machines, such as details on the companies’ operations, assets and intellectual property.” Such details could be worth much more than the thousands of dollars obtained by fraud, Check Point says.
Another alarming aspect was that some of the targets are energy and infrastructure companies, which the unsophisticated cybercriminal was able to easily breach.
Not only was the attacker able to compromise the networks of several large organizations, but he also managed to distribute his malware globally and remain under the radar for a long while.
“This highlights the need for all organizations to improve their security to protect against phishing and business email compromise scams, and to educate their employees to be cautious about opening emails, even from companies or individuals that they recognize,” Check Point said.
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Galaxy Backbone (GBB) aligns with and celebrates the successful announcement by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on the achievement of a Paperless Civil Service, a significant milestone in Nigeria’s public sector reform and digital transformation agenda.
The milestone was formally highlighted at a press briefing led by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who commended Galaxy Backbone for its sustained support and contribution throughout the implementation of the programme.
GBB has played a critical role in enabling this transition by providing secure, scalable, and shared digital infrastructure that supports the digitisation of government processes across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Through the 1Government Cloud, MDAs have been empowered to migrate from paper-based workflows to digital platforms, improving efficiency, collaboration, data security, and service delivery across the Federal Civil Service.
In addition, GovMail, GBB’s secure government email platform, has strengthened official communication, enhanced records management, and reinforced cybersecurity standards—key pillars in sustaining a paperless operating environment.
Galaxy Backbone acknowledges the collective efforts of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries, Directors of ICT, consultants, partners, and dedicated public servants whose commitment and collaboration ensured the smooth delivery of this initiative.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanju, was represented at the press briefing by Akintayo Bamisaye, Acting Group Head, Research, Digital Innovation and Skills Department (RDIS).
GBB describes the achievement as a strong close to 2025 and reaffirms its commitment to supporting the Federal Government in building a modern, efficient, and digitally enabled public service.
At the close of 2025, Temidayo Ojo, the CEO of Jumia Nigeria, reflected on a year-end shopping season that points to the growing maturity of the country’s e-commerce market. “Black Friday is no longer a single, short-lived spike in activity,” he said.
“It has become a familiar, anticipated moment in the retail calendar, where consumers shop deliberately and with confidence.”
Preliminary KPIs for the two months ended November 30, 2025, show strong year-on-year growth in both orders and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), with GMV growth outpacing order growth. This indicates that customers are placing fuller, more considered baskets rather than shopping in fragmented transactions. Nigeria ranked among Jumia Group’s better-performing markets, with engagement remaining steady throughout the Black Friday period rather than spiking briefly and tapering off.
A key factor behind this performance is the growing familiarity of consumers with online shopping. Customers are increasingly leveraging platform features such as saved carts, brand stores, and price comparison tools to plan purchases in advance. This trend suggests that digital commerce is becoming embedded in everyday habits rather than being viewed as a one-off event.
Ojo also highlighted the role of Jumia’s JForce network in connecting digital commerce to local communities. “Our agents are critical to ensuring that customers across Nigeria, including secondary cities and smaller communities, have access to variety, consistent pricing, and reliable delivery,” he said. “During peak periods like Black Friday, JForce agents can respond faster, serve more customers efficiently, and build stronger local relationships. This isn’t just a distribution channel—it’s a pathway to sustainable income and inclusion.”
Reflecting on the overall performance, the CEO concluded: “What we’re seeing this year-end is steady engagement across categories, stronger consumer confidence, and partners like our JForce agents benefiting from increased activity.
“It confirms that Nigeria’s e-commerce ecosystem is maturing, growing in a more structured and resilient way. As the December Holiday Sale continues, we expect these patterns of familiarity, trust, and participation to sustain momentum and drive both commerce and community impact across the country.”
Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) has been ranked first overall in the 2025 Federal Government Website Performance Scorecard.
This is a landmark achievement for Nigeria’s digital economy.
The ranking, conducted by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), is the definitive benchmark for digital excellence and transparency across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Professor Ibrahim Adepoju Adeyanju, managing director and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, received the award during a ceremony in Abuja.
He described the feat as a validation of the agency’s“Nigeria First”data sovereignty strategy and its relentless pursuit of service excellence.
This recognition comes as the Federal Government intensifies its push to achieve a fully paperless civil service by December 31, 2025.
GBB has been the primary architect of this transition through its 1Gov Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform, which now hosts the operations of almost all federal MDAs.
The award adds to a growing list of accolades for Galaxy Backbone in 2025, following its recent win of the “International Standard Excellence Award for Best IT Service Provider.”
As the central hub for government shared services, GBB’s performance serves as a blueprint for other agencies currently undergoing digital transformation.
With its expanded fiber-optic backbone now covering over 13 states and its secure cloud solutions, Galaxy Backbone remains the cornerstone of Nigeria’s vision to become a leading digital nation by the end of the decade.
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