E-Business
Huawei Recommends Industry’s 1st List Cyber Security Requirements for Selecting ICT Vendors
In its latest cyber security white paper, Cyber Security Perspectives – 100 Requirements When Considering End-to-End Cyber Security with Your Technology Vendors, Huawei outlines the industry’s first list of end-to-end requirements buyers must consider when assessing vendor cyber security capabilities.
In a previous paper released last year, Huawei called on corporations to embed cyber security in a corporate-wide context and stressed the development of global cyber security standards.
Over the past year, more countries have taken a pragmatic approach to cyber security.
As a result, standards relating to enterprises, governments, and end users have been gradually formulated.
Driving the next phase, specifically involving the development of an accepted set of cyber security standards especially for hardware and software manufacturers, Huawei’s white paper recommends 100 requirements for buyers across 11 key areas including: strategy governance and control; standards and processes; laws and regulations; human resources; research and development; verification; third-party supplier management; manufacturing; delivering services securely; issue, defect and vulnerability resolution; and finally audit.
At a launch conference announcing the recommendations, Bruce McConnell, senior vice president of leading international think tank EastWest Institute, remarked, “Huawei’s report provides much needed support for addressing one of the most vexing problems in cyber security today.
The list of questions across 11 categories provides a strong foundation for valuable dialogue between customers and their vendors and suppliers.”
John Suffolk, Huawei’s global cyber security officer, said, “In almost every walk of life Governments, regulators, industry and consumers have worked together to improve product quality and safety, yet in the security safety of ICT this has not really happened. We hope our white paper will go some way to start this process”
To view Huawei’s white paper in full, visit: http://pr.huawei.com/en/connecting-the-dots/cyber-security/hw-401493.htm.
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.
Nigeria recently launched a new joint case team to step up its response to cybercrimes that affect people and businesses at home and abroad.
The ‘Joint Case Team on Cybercrime’ brings together Nigeria’s key justice and security agencies to work as one, making it easier to detect, investigate, and prosecute digital offences.
It is supported by the UK National Crime Agency, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, as part of a wider effort to promote international cooperation on cybercrime.
Speaking at the launch in Abuja, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, minister of justice and attorney general of the federation described the initiative as “a bold and transformative stride in Nigeria’s justice system.”
He said that although Nigeria has a national legal framework to address cyber offences, laws alone are not enough.
Nigeria is among the countries most affected by cybercrime around the world, with increasing financial losses.
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