The Lagos State Government on Friday announced the introduction of a cyber security toolkit for small business, a free online resource that small businesses can use to significantly reduce their cyber risk and curtail incidences of cybercrime.

The toolkit, which is a joint effort between the State Ministry of Justice and the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA), is an international, cross-sector effort dedicated to eradicating cyber risk and improving the connected world, while the toolkit also provides real-world tools and clear directions for taking immediate action for reducing cyber risk at a time when the need for such resources has never been greater.

Speaking at the launch of the toolkit, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem (SAN) described the toolkit as a great asset to small businesses, saying that the development would go a long way to tackle the menace of cybercrimes.

According to him, “The major driving force for the deployment of the cyber security toolkit for small businesses in Lagos State is its apparent potential to reduce cybercrime which in-turn has a significant impact on our collective gains as a Ministry that focuses on creating a crime free society.

“The nature of cybercrime goes beyond national boundaries; hence, there is need for international initiative and concerted trans-border joint actions in fighting cybercrime and also providing bulwarks against its perpetration.

“To further its cyber security efforts, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice joined GCA as a partner in support of its mission to eradicate global cyber risk. Small businesses are the lifeblood of a community and provide all manner of essential services and support to individuals, enterprise businesses and government. Even though a business may be small, when it comes to cybercrime the risks are great.”

Kazeem added that the toolkit, which would be regularly updated with input from users, industry experts and public and private partners across the globe, was developed in partnership with Mastercard, while the Global Cyber Alliance also partnered with several additional organizations to create the GCA cyber security toolkit, including the Center for Internet Security, the Cyber Readiness Institute, the City of London and the City of New York.

He said as a thriving State, which encourages inward investment and also supports indigenous Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which are vulnerable to cybercrime, the initiative was appropriate and timely to the State, assuring that government would further collaborate with relevant stakeholders to make deepen access to the toolkit.

“The Lagos State Government will encourage and collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the business community and regulatory bodies to embrace this cybercrime toolkit for small business as a formidable initiative in fighting cybercrimes and related offences.

“To access the GCA Cybersecurity Toolkit, visit https://gcatoolkit.org/smallbusiness or the website of Lagos State Ministry of Justice www.lagosministryofjustice.org for a redirection to the GCA Website. The Lagos State Ministry of Justice and the GCA will also be conducting a series of webinars on how to protect your business from cybercrime,” Kazeem said.

At the earlier launch of the toolkit, which took place in New York and London on the 19th February 2019, in reiterating the importance of cybersecurity, City of London Police Commissioner Ian Dyson had said: “As the national lead force for fraud and a founding member of the Global Cyber Alliance, we are always pleased to see new initiatives that will assist businesses in improving their cyber security.

“Businesses lost £6.7 million as a result of social media and email accounts being compromised between April and September 2018.

It’s therefore essential that we, as a force, continue to work closely with businesses as well as the organisations that serve to protect them.”

According to Cyrus Vance, Jr., Manhattan District Attorney, “When we launched the Global Cyber Alliance, we set out to empower organizations of all sizes with the tools they need to prevent cybercrime.

“The Global Cyber Alliance’s free Cybersecurity Toolkit provides small- and medium-sized businesses with immediate, concrete steps to protect their companies and customers against crippling cyberattacks, and I thank each of the public and private partners who contributed their world-class expertise.”

On his part, President and CEO of Global Cyber Alliance, Philip Reitinger, said the significant difference between the firm’s Cybersecurity Toolkit and those of others was the fact that it is an action kit, adding that the focus was on protecting small businesses.

“Our focus is on producing a dynamic clearinghouse of operational tools that help small and medium businesses address risk and improve their cyber security posture, leveraging the deep expertise of our network of global partners, such as Mastercard, and the experiences of actual GCA toolkit users,” Reitinger said.