E-Business
In Absence of Rules, Cyber Terrorists Attack Nations
The systematic crash of the computer systems of banks and TV broadcasters in South Korea — reportedly the result of an attack that was widely speculated to have been launched by North Korea — raises questions about what international laws, if any, govern the new and unexplored area of cyberwarfare.
“The answer is there’s nothing and there’s everything,” said Michael Schmitt, professor and chairman of the international law department at the U.S. Naval War College.
Schmitt, who was asked by the NATO Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence to look into these issues, chaired a three-year project that brought together 20 academics and practitioners from around the world.
CBC, the leading Canadian media reported that the culmination of their efforts was the recently published Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare.
“If you’re looking for cyber specific law, a law that says ‘a cyberattack that causes these consequences in an armed attack to which you can respond,’ you will find nothing,” he said. “But it was our unanimous consensus among the group of experts that the existing international law applies to cyberspace and to cyberweapons.”
This means that, as international law permits a country to defend itself and retaliate if attacked by conventional weapons, a country that is the victim of a cyberattack that causes damage or death, may also retaliate, either through cyberwarfare or conventional weapons.
“Hack into a control system of a dam and release waters downstream. Those waters are going to cause significant damage, physical damage, people will drown. In my mind that’s clearly an armed attack,” Schmitt said.
“And if someone did that to Canada, you could resort to force, not only cyber but armed force to defend yourself.”
Other examples of cyberwarfare that are grounds for retaliation by force could include hacking into a water treatment plant and causing chemicals to flow into the water, thereby poisoning the population, hacking into air traffic control systems and causing planes to crash, or hacking into a hospital and changing people’s blood type, causing harm to patients
But the attack on South Korea, if in fact North Korea was responsible, is different, Schmitt said.
The attack is certainly a violation of South Korea’s sovereignty and a violation of international law, he said, but not grounds for the use of force in response.
“We would call that a below the threshold operation that certainly would permit a response from South Korea but the response could not include armed force,” Schmitt said.
The retaliatory options for South Korea would include countermeasures. These are actions that can be taken by the aggrieved state that would normally be unlawful under international law but are considered acceptable because the aggressor state violated international law first.
“If state A attacks state B’s banking system, state B may then respond proportionally against state A’s banking system to compel state A to knock it off,” Schmitt said.
His group also looked at issues surrounding cyberattacks on civilians. Under international law and the principle of distinction, when on the battlefield, operations may only be directed against military objects and combatants and not civilians.
“We asked the question ‘when is a cyber operation a forbidden attack?’ There are all sorts of things you can do in cyberspace against civilians during an armed conflict that doesn’t physically harm them and doesn’t injure them,” he said. For example, erasing personal data or messing with their banking records.
“What we said is that this is a very hard question. Not unanimous, but the majority said that an attack, in the law of war, means you physically harm someone, you break something, you cause physical damage or you interfere in the functionality of an object such that it needs to be actually repaired.”
Ashley Deeks, an associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and an expert in international law, said many of the scenarios are case by case.
“Even in the kinetic world, there is no real definition of what an armed attack is,” she said, adding that states look to past practices.
For example, the Stuxnet computer virus, reportedly launched by the U.S. that attacked and destroyed hundreds of centrifuges at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Iran, raised these issues.
“I guess I would just characterize it as the closest thing we’ve seen to a cyber action that produces real world effects, not dissimilar from what a kinetic attack would do. But I’m not prepared to say it was an armed attack.”
That’s why a lot of people are starting to devote a lot of attention to cyberwarfare and trying to sort out where the lines are, Deeks said.
“There are a lot of question marks. If you took out a banking system, and it caused massive instability in the country … that could be construed as an armed attack by some states. But it’s really an open question,” she said.
“There would be other states that say, ‘No, unless people die, things blow up, not an armed attack. We want to set a high threshold.’ Others say, ‘That ‘s crazy. You want to start deterring these things. You want to call lower level things armed attacks.”
However, Schmitt said he believes all these thresholds will evolve over the next decade.
“I anticipate that we’ll see a lot of thresholds coming down that will allow states to respond more vibrantly to cyber attacks that might not be possible under the law as we found it.”
E-Business
Konga Health To Appoint Resellers for L’Oreal Dermatological Beauty Products and others Nationwide
Konga Health in partnership with L’Oréal, a global leader in premium skincare, has announced the appointment of prospective authorized professional resellers of its high-demand products.
This exciting opportunity offers structured Nigerian retailers, wholesalers, healthcare professionals, and structured online sellers a chance to join the growing network of resellers for world-renowned brands such as CeraVe, La Roche-Posay and others.
The partnership between L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty and Konga Health has been instrumental in bringing genuine top-tier skincare solutions to the Nigerian market. With a commitment to providing access to premium, dermatologist-recommended skincare products, this new initiative is set to expand the brand’s presence while offering businesses a profitable opportunity to grow their offerings.
This initiative is open to various business models, whether you’re a retail store, an online seller, a wholesaler, or a healthcare professional—be it a dermatologist, pharmacist, or aesthetician.
The beauty industry has shown tremendous growth globally, and partnering with L’Oréal through Konga Health presents a unique chance to expand your portfolio with premium skincare brands that practically sell themselves.
L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty is known for its science-backed products, trusted by dermatologists and healthcare professionals around the world.
Joining this network of professional resellers means gaining access to some of the most highly regarded skincare products, enabling resellers to meet the growing demand for effective, high-quality skincare solutions.
As an authorized reseller, businesses will benefit from a number of advantages. These include high-profit margins, pre- and post-sales support, comprehensive marketing materials, and product training.
Additionally, the L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty brand enjoys strong nationwide recognition, ensuring that resellers can tap into a large and loyal customer base.
To apply, interested businesses and healthcare professionals should visit: konga.com/resellers, email – [email protected] or call 0907 003 8627 for more information. Applications are open to both new and existing businesses seeking to enhance their offerings and tap into the growing demand for premium skincare products.
National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has restated its commitments to strengthen the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of Nigerian innovators and inventors to boost the creative ability of people to develop solutions to the many challenges confronting the people.
Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general of NOTAP, made this known in a news conference in Abuja recently to commemorate the 2024 African Day for Technology and Intellectual Property Rights, with the theme “Leveraging Technology and IPRs to Drive the Renewed Hope Agenda”
The NOTAP boss said the commemoration, observed by all African countries on September 13 every year, is important because it will help to facilitate the domestication of technology and the development of IPRs in African states to assist people to develop solutions to the many challenges confronting the continent to eradicate poverty and drive sustainable development.
Amadiobi said that “NOTAP as an agency has the added responsibility of promoting inventions and innovations of Nigerian researchers and has not failed in pursuing the mandate especially in sensitising the research community and the general public on the vital role of IPR in Nigeria’s technological development.”
She noted that these responsibilities were carried out through the establishment of over sixty-five (65) Intellectual Property and Technology Transfers Offices (IPTIOs) across the length and breadth of Nigeria;
Processing of over one thousand (1,000) patent applications received and submitted to the Nigerian Patent and Design Registry; Granting of assistance to researchers at no cost in the acquisition of over three hundred (300) patent certificates from the Nigerian Patent and Design Registry.
She added that 70 of these patent certificates have been commercialised in the Nigerian markets and five (5) in the international markets; while the agency has also launched and distributed publication on “Guidelines for Commercialization of R&D results in Nigeria”; Identification and publishing of a compendium of viable R&D results from various research sectors in Nigeria and Sustained engagements with stakeholders in the National Innovation System (NIS) to facilitate the commercialization of viable R&D products.
She said that an initiative has been taken to develop market ready products and industry trained academia through NOTAP, Industry and Academia linkage project as NOTAP- Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) which has successfully witnessed the engagement of 21 fellows, viable products and generation of valuable Patents.
“To strengthen research and development infrastructure, NOTAP is also engaging the private sector to upgrade laboratories in various tertiary institutions across the country,” she added.
She also reaffirmed NOTAP’s commitment to guiding the process of technology transfer and promotion of IPRs to shore up indigenous inventors and innovators in order to drive progress and harness the benefits of innovation and creativity for the development of Nigeria to build a greater future for us all.
Insider threat reverberates in Cybervergent half year cyber threat report between January and June 2024 released over the weekend. According the report, “often underestimated and underestimated, insider threats are like the silent assassins in the gym, packing a knockout punch despite always being overlooked.
“In the first half of 2024 there has been a 50% increase in successful Insider threat attacks within Nigeria alone. Unlike external attackers who rely on fancy footwork and social engineering jabs, insider threats have a secret weapon – trusted access.
“They’re already inside the gym, bypassing security ropes with their legitimate credentials. They know the routines, the weaknesses in the defenses, and can land a surprise blow before anyone notices,” the report stated.
Analyzing the report, Mr. Gbolabo Awelewa, the Chief Solutions Officer at Cybervergent, classified the different types of insider threats to include꞉
Disgruntled Employees꞉ Motivated by anger, financial gain, or a feeling of being benched, these individuals can inflict serious damage.
Accidental Insiders꞉ These are the athletes who forget their water bottles and leave the locker room door open – a simple mistake with potentially big consequences. They highlight the importance of solid security training programs.
Negligent Insiders꞉ These are the gym rats who forget their water bottles and leave the locker room door open – an employee working from a public space and leaving his/her laptop unlocked to dash to the restroom or pick a call; a simple mistake with potentially big consequences. They highlight the importance of solid security training programs.
Credential Compromise꞉ Insiders with compromised credentials, either through phishing scams or malware, become unwitting accomplices, letting attackers into the gym through the back door.
Industrial Espionage꞉ Competitors or foreign agents might try to recruit insiders to steal your intellectual property – like spying on your secret training techniques.
The report also revealed how Cybervergent detected 586,130 attacks on organizations that it manages in Nigeria.
Among the 586,130 attacks launched on various organizations, Cybervergent was able to resolve 226,103 of the attacks by automation, while 19,920 endpoints were protected by Cybervergent.
According to the report, events analysed by Cybervergent’s Security Operations Centre (SOC), reached 304,522, while all potentially malicious events analysed by Cybervergent within the same six months period, reached 42,200.
Mr Awelewa said with the increasing threat in the cyberspace, organizations must ensure that regular application and systems updates are carried out on existing applications and systems to prevent the attacks at scale.
Highlighting the threat actors that targeted Nigeria in the first half of the year, Awelwewa listed them to include: Gelsemium, Equation Group, Lyceum, Gamaredon, Circus Spider, Mirage, Common Raven, Bronze Highland, Earth Krahang, as well as Insider Threat Syndrome.
According to him, Gelsemium is a sophisticated cyber espionage group known for its targeted attacks on high‑profile organisations across various sectors.
“They use custom malware and advanced techniques to evade detection, and their target is on public administration, educational services and national security,” he said.
The also spotted common cyber challenges where organizations were struggling such as: Outdated Equipment꞉ Legacy systems were holding many organizations back, making them easy targets for modern cyber threats.
Limited Resources꞉ Smaller organizations and even some larger ones were struggling to afford the right equipment (security tools) and trainers (skilled personnel) for a comprehensive workout.
Lack of Knowledge꞉ Many organizations were uninformed about the latest fitness trends (security standards) like ISO 27001꞉2022, CBN Frameworks, and PCI DSS 4.0, leaving them vulnerable to injury (a data breach).
Human Error꞉ Insufficient training led to avoidable errors, opening the door for cyber attackers.
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