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NaijaSecCon’17: Experts Call For Synergy to Combat Cyber Insecurity

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(L-r): Rotimi Akinyele, convener, NaijaSecCon 2017 Cybersecurity conference; Debra Okwuzi, cyber security professional; Olofinlade Victor, leader of Hackerfinger team, winners of 2017 NaijaSecCon Ethical Hacking competition; Rotimi Awosika, group head of Control, Skye Bank and Olabode Olaoke, senior manager, Risk Assurance Services, PriceWaterhouseCoopers Limited at the NaijaSecCon 2017 cybersecurity Conference held at Landmark Centre, Lekki, Lagos.
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With the growing cyber threats, experts in the field have called for collaboration in intelligence sharing, especially among players in the financial sector as panacea to tackle the challenge.

The experts made the suggestion at the 2017 Cyber security Conference dubbed NaijaSecCon held at Landmark Centre, Lekki, Lagos, recently.

On intensifying awareness, Rotimi Akinyele, the Convener of the conference said the event was a way of proffering solutions to cyber security issues. To that effect, he added that the conference will be a yearly event.

“Everything we are doing has to do with awareness. People invest in cyber solution, buy fireware worth millions, but in the end people need to be aware because there are some basic things which people are not aware. We are starting with awareness, this is going to be a gradual things, it is not just going to be a one-off.

“Yearly we will be organizing this conference and it is going to be bigger. The interesting thing about the programme is that people are willing support. They hold views that what we are doing will change the future of cyber security in Nigeria. The mentality about cyber security is that if there is no strong attack, people will not get serious. We have had regulatory bodies which made it compulsory for financial institutions abide by certain cyber security standards and regulatory framework. As long as the motive is right, the support will be heavily required,” he pointed.

Chinedu Onwukike, Senior Cyber security expert disclosed that the activities of cybercriminals are on the increase despite the existence of several agencies set up to tackle the ugly trend. This he attribute to the dearth of forensic test by the agencies.

“A lot of agencies have been created to tackle cybercrime but nothing serious has been done. There are no forensic tests been carried out, people get away with fraud.

“There have to be collaboration in intelligence sharing by financial institutions to tackle cyber-crimes; this is the practice in advance societies. We have monthly meeting where they threat sharing since they are working in the same ecosystem,” he explained.

In the same vein, Debra Okwuzi, Senior Cyber Security Specialist, emphasized that before embacking on global partnerships, it is imperative to create awareness locally about the fight against the menace.

“There is internal cyber security issues which we need to solve, for instance terrorism. Before talking about the global body, we need to talk about what happens internally. There has to be a lot of synergy on how to address cyber-crimes. Cyber-crime is growing exponentially, the issue has been in the media and this has attracted government attention to pass into a cyber-crime bill.”

As part of the event of the conference, hacking competition tagged ‘2017 Naija SecCon Ethical Hacking Competition was also organized to help discover new talents and innovations. Cyber security Professional, Olofinlade Victor, leader HackerFringer team emerge winner of the contest.

 

 


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Survey Reveals Marketing Leaders See Strong Potential in gTLDS Despite Knowledge Gap

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A new global survey from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) reveals that 52% of marketing leaders believe generic top-level domains (gTLDs – the three characters or more that come after the dot in a URL) have strong potential for enhancing brand presence online; however, a knowledge gap is preventing many brands from taking advantage of the opportunities that a gTLD can bring.

The research surveyed over 2,000 marketing leaders across eight countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, U.K., and U.S.) with the purpose of creating a picture of the evolving digital marketing landscape and understanding the levels of awareness around gTLDs.

It comes as ICANN prepares to open the next application window for new gTLDs in April 2026 the New gTLD Program: Next Round – the first opportunity in more than a decade for organizations to apply to operate their own gTLD.

Top-level domains are the letters found at the end of an Internet address (with gTLDs including .charity, .menu, .paris and .ceo). Brands can apply to run their own gTLD as a way to indicate the purpose of their organization or to clearly mark a website as being related to their brand.

The research shows that increasing brand awareness and visibility is the top priority for marketing leaders (54%) and that over half believe that gTLDs have strong potential for enhancing brand presence online.

However, the research also shows that almost a third (32%) of marketing leaders surveyed are unfamiliar with gTLDs, which suggests that operating a new gTLD may be a strategic opportunity that many organizations are currently overlooking.

Key findings from the research include:

  • After defining a gTLD, 92% of marketing leaders responded that they could see the potential benefits to gTLDs, with enhanced brand differentiation (46%), improved customer trust (45%), better control over online presence (44%), and improved SEO (44%) topping the list.
  • 19% of marketing leaders work for organizations that have previously applied for a gTLD.
  • Cost concerns (31%), knowledge gaps (27%), and insufficient resources (24%) were identified as the main barriers to application.
  • The research revealed notable regional variations, with Nigerian (74%) and Indian (61%) marketing leaders showing the strongest belief in gTLDs’ potential for branding and online presence. In contrast, marketers in China expressed more mixed views, with 50% seeing strong potential but 49% considering gTLDs an unnecessary investment with unclear Return On Investment.

The findings come at a time when marketing leaders are facing significant challenges in standing out from competitors (53%), attracting and engaging the right audience (52%), and keeping pace with digital trends (47%).

A new gTLD can be an innovative tool for commerce and communication. They allow businesses in specific countries, sectors, or niche markets to create an exclusive, descriptive, and memorable label on the Internet.

An entity operating a gTLD can provide its users and customers with an extra measure of confidence in its security and legitimacy online. This can be valuable in today’s environment, where users often don’t know whether they can trust the source on the Internet.

Theresa Swinehart, SVP, Global Domains & Strategy said: “The New gTLD Program: Next Round presents an opportunity for businesses, communities, governments, and others to apply to operate their own secure space online, tailored to fit their organization, community, culture, language, and customer interests.

Now is also the moment for brands to consider applying for a gTLD, and this research tells us there is still a lack of awareness. ICANN can help provide information and raise awareness of the Next Round and the opportunity it presents for global communities, organizations, and businesses, including brands.”

To help address the knowledge gap, ICANN is developing resources to help organizations understand the application process and potential opportunities for gTLDs ahead of the 2026 application window. ICANN also offers the Applicant Support Program (ASP), which provides financial and non-financial assistance to eligible applicants.

 


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Firm Reports a 48% Increase in Malicious Packages Threatening Software Supply Chains

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Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts at the 10th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2025 held recently, talked about supply chain attacks and reported that by the end of 2024 a total of 14,000 malicious packages were found in open-source projects, a 48% increase compared to the end of 2023. 42 million versions of open-source packages have been examined by Kaspersky throughout 2024 in search for vulnerabilities.

Open-source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Popular open-source packages include GoMod, Maven, NuGet, npm, PyPI, and others.

These are tools that power countless applications and help developers easily find, install, and manage pre-built code libraries, making it simpler to build software by reusing code others have written. Attackers take advantage of the popularity of these and other packages.

In March 2025, the Lazarus Group was reported to have deployed several malicious npm packages, which were downloaded multiple times before removal. These packages contained malware to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data, and deploy backdoors, targeting developers’ systems across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The attack leveraged GitHub repositories for added legitimacy, highlighting the group’s sophisticated supply chain tactics. Kaspersky’s GReAT also found other npm packages related to this attack. Malicious npm packages could have been integrated into web development, cryptocurrency platforms, and enterprise software, risking widespread data theft and financial losses.

In 2024, a sophisticated backdoor was discovered in XZ Utils versions 5.6.0 and 5.6.1, a widely used compression library in Linux distributions. Inserted by a trusted contributor, the malicious code targeted SSH servers, enabling remote command execution and threatening countless systems globally.

Detected before widespread exploitation due to performance anomalies, the incident highlighted the dangers of supply chain attacks. XZ Utils is integral to operating systems, cloud servers, and IoT devices, making its compromise a threat to critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.

In 2024, Kaspersky’s GReAT discovered that attackers uploaded malicious Python packages like chatgpt-python and chatgpt-wrapper to PyPI, mimicking legitimate tools for interacting with ChatGPT APIs.

These packages, designed to steal credentials and deploy backdoors, capitalised on the popularity of AI development to trick developers into downloading them. These packages could have been used in AI development, chatbot integrations, and data analytics platforms, endangering sensitive AI workflows and user data.

“Open-source software is the backbone of many modern solutions, but its openness is being weaponised. The 50% rise in malicious packages by the end of 2024 shows attackers are actively embedding sophisticated backdoors and data stealers in popular packages, which millions rely on.

“Without rigorous vetting and real-time monitoring, a single compromised package can trigger a global breach. Organisations need to secure the supply chain before the next XZ Utils-level attack succeeds,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Research Center for Russia and CIS at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.


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NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

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Data Breach
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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.

NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

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.

 

 

 


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