News
Many Organisations Aren’t Positioned for Success in Tackling Cyber Demands – Report
The fourth industrial revolution is driving change and digitalisation at an exciting pace. New markets are being created and with every innovation the world becomes more and more digitally connected.
Cyber is growing and moving in multiple dimensions across multiple disciplines—beyond an organisation’s perimeter and IT environments, permeating the products it creates, the factories where it makes them, the spaces where its employees conceive them, and where its customers use them. Cyber is at the centre of digital transformation.
According to Deloitte’s 2019 Future of Cyber survey, there are notable gaps in organisations’ abilities to meet cybersecurity demands for the future. Findings indicate that many cyber organisations are challenged by their ability to prioritise cyber risk across the enterprise (16 percent), followed closely behind by lack of management alignment on priorities and adequate funding, each at 15 percent.
“Cyber leaders today are focused on digital transformation as a catalyst for change for both the greater enterprise and their cyber agendas. The good news is the survey results show that organisations are no longer taking a wait-and-see philosophy to preparing for and responding to cyber incidents”, says Deloitte Africa Risk Advisory Cyber leader Eric Mc Gee, “There is a whole new way of thinking that is starting to occur with how organisations are going to achieve their business outcomes, and that is with a cyber everywhere mindset.”
Findings from the 500 C-suite cybersecurity executives surveyed also suggested that there is still much work to do in aligning cyber initiatives to executive management’s digital transformation priorities.
There is a real gap that must be bridged, with finite budgets and resources as well as a lack of prioritisation by executive management. The overall consensus was that many organisations aren’t fully equipped to efficiently and effectively tackle today’s cyber demands.
Findings of the Future of Cyber survey include:
– 43 percent of surveyed CISOs indicated they report directly to the CEO. This is consistent across the total survey population where 32 percent of respondents indicated the CISO reported to the CEO, with only 19 percent indicating that the role reported to the CIO.
In Deloitte’s experience facilitating hundreds of CISO transformation labs over the past five years and through informal collection of data, nearly 80 percent of CISOs report to a CIO or CSO. This indication that CISOs are, in fact, directly reporting to a CEO is quite encouraging but counter to Deloitte’s experience.
– Half of organisations (49 percent) have cybersecurity on their board agenda at least quarterly. On the other hand, half of boards are not discussing cyber as often as they should. More concerning is that only 4 percent of respondents say cybersecurity is on the agenda once a month.
– While organisations are prioritising digital transformation, only 14 percent of cyber budgets are allocated to provide for cybersecurity in transformation efforts.
– Less than 20 percent of organisations have security liaisons embedded within business units to foster greater collaboration, innovation, and security.
– Organisations are turning to third parties to manage certain functions of their cyber operations. According to 65 percent of the CISOs surveyed, 21-30 percent of total cyber operations are outsourced, with nearly half (48 percent) of CISOs selecting insider threat detection as a top function that they turn to third parties to manage.
– There’s a disconnect between the majority (85 percent) of the survey respondents who indicate that they are using Agile/DevOps in application development and then ranking DevSecOps lowest (11 percent) on the cyber defence priorities and investments areas, which may explain why 90 percent of organisations surveyed experienced disclosures of sensitive production data within the past year.
Data integrity (35 percent) was the top-ranked cybersecurity threat respondents were most concerned about followed by unintended actions of well-meaning employees (32 percent) resulting in a negative event and then followed by technical vulnerabilities (31 percent).
“The aim of this survey report is to put the numbers into context and to expand the dialogue and acceptance of cyber everywhere so that organisations are not limited by it but empowered to embrace the opportunities it will create,” says Mc Gee.
As organisations embrace digital transformation and shift to the cloud increasing the complexity of technology infrastructure and outsourcing workloads to third parties, they are also expanding their cyber risk.
Cyber will become more prolific across systems, platforms, and people — employees, customers, and partners. Deloitte notes that enterprise leadership will have to correlate all of that to stay ahead of the adversary and protect the organisation’s most valuable assets.
Methodology
The Deloitte 2019 Future of Cyber Survey, in conjunction with Wakefield Research, polled 500 C-level executives who oversee cybersecurity at companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue including 100 CISOs, 100 CSOs, 100 CTOs, 100 CIOs, and 100 CROs between January 9, 2019, and January 25, 2019, using an online survey.
The African Development Bank (AfDB), has disclosed plans to work with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), to boost the state’s transport system with the development of another rail line.
This was contained in a statement signed by, the Head, Corporate Communication, LAMATA, Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi in Lagos.
Ojelabi said that the AfDB Vice President, Private Sector Infrastructure and Industrialisation, Mr. Solomon Quaynor, gave the assurance during a visit to LAMATA.
He added that the bank was interested in partnering LAMATA to expand the capacity of the existing rail system.
“Quaynor was also in the company of the Non-Sovereign Operations and Private Sector Equity Specialist, Mr Mayowa Ayodele ahead of a visit of the technical team to assess the Purple line,” he said.
The Purple Line is a 60-kilometre railroad along the Redemption Camp in Ogun State, traversing Berger, Agege and Alimosho and terminate at Volkswagen to join the Blue Line.
“The visit follows a recent pitch for investment on 60-kilometre Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Purple Line at the African Development Bank forum in Morocco, where the Lagos delegation was led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“This is to further discuss collaboration on the project and other lines outlined in the Lagos Strategic Transport Master Plan. The delegation toured the LRMT Blue Line and expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Blue Line rail system,” he said.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian government the 36 states over the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024.
SERAP is arguing that “the repressive use of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 by the government to criminalize legitimate expression violate the human rights of Nigerians, including activists, journalists, bloggers and social media users”.
In a statement on Sunday, Kolawole Oluwadare, deputy director, SERAP, explained that the suit was filed to stop the Tinubu administration and Nigeria’s 36 governors from using the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 to criminalize legitimate expression and punish Nigerians, including social media users.
He said: “Rather than using the amended legislation to make cyberspace and its users safer, Nigerian authorities are routinely weaponizing it to curb Nigerians’ human rights and media freedom.
“The suit no: ECW/CCJ/APP/03/2025 was filed last week before the ECOWAS Court in Abuja.”
Recall that Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court had on March 25, 2022, declared Section 24 of Nigeria’s original Cybercrimes Act 2015 as “arbitrary, vague, and repressive.”
The court ordered Nigeria to repeal the provision, citing non-compliance with human rights obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Although the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 repealed Section 24, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) argues that the reworded provisions still infringe upon freedom of expression and information.
SERAP’s concerns center around the ambiguity of “causing a breakdown of law and order” in Section 24(1)(b), which they believe threatens peaceful and legitimate expression and leaves room for abuse.
SERAP highlighted several instances where the law was allegedly misused to target government critics, including activist Dele Farotimi, journalist Agba Jalingo, and social media user Chioma Okoli.
The organization emphasized that the amended legislation has a chilling effect on human rights and media freedom.
SERAP stressed that the amended Act contravenes international human rights law, which requires restrictions on freedom of expression to serve a legitimate purpose and be strictly proportionate.
The organization seeks a declaration that Section 24 of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 is unlawful and an order directing the government to repeal or amend the legislation in compliance with international standards.
However, a hearing date has not been set for the suit.
Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) has applauded Mr. Monday Okpebholo, Edo State governor, for the appointment of Mr. Collins Edomaruse as his Special Adviser, International Development Partners (IDP).
Ms Maureen Chigbo, president of GOCOP and publisher of RealNews Online, described Edomaruse’s appointment as a welcomed development.
Chigbo in a press statement by Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, GOCOP Publicity Secretary, also congratulated Edomaruse for this appointment assuring of support from over 110 members of GOCOP in carrying out his duties.
Until his appointment, Edomaruse who is a founding member of GOCOP and the Secretary General of the body of reputed online publishers is also a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), among others.
Edomaruse doubles as the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of METROWATCH, and has held several senior editorial management positions in THISDAY, including Group News Editor, Group Politics Editor, Deputy Editor, Daily, Saturday and Sunday titles respectively, as well as the Editor, Nation’s Capital/Abuja Bureau.
Also known as ‘General’ because of his mastery of the Defence Beat, his records in THISDAY have remained unbeaten, where he ranked the best among the editors.
FG Plans Aircraft Manufacturing in Nigeria
FCCPC Insists Telcos’s Tariff Hike must Translate to Improved Services
Sub-Saharan Africa Lost $1.56Bn to Internet Shutdown in 2024 – Report
USSD Dispute: FG May Blacklist 18 Banks Allegedly Owing Telcos N250Bn
NIMC Trains 388 Personnel to Boost NIN Enrolment
MTN Nigeria Renews Spectrum Lease Agreement with NTEL
NERC Discloses $5.7 Million Debt Owed by International Customers for Q3 2024 Electricity Supply
CBN, SEC Approve FCMB Group’s N147bn Rights Offer
A beginner’s guide to Temu: Your ultimate shopping companion
Corporate Blackmail, My Story as a Case Study, by Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman Zinox Group
