Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Connect with us

E-Business

.ng Domain Registrations Hit 18, 870 in December

Published

on

Mary Uduma, president, NIRA
Kindly share this post

Although, the month of December 2014 recorded a drop in the .ng domain name purchase activities by the registrants, so far, as at December 31, 2014, there were 18,870 domain names registered.

According to Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), domain names are not popular gift items, hence there was also a slight decrease in the number of domain names renewed in the same month mainly due to the Christmas and New Year festivals and celebrations.

Interestingly, there was a remarkable increase in the transfer window. This could be traced to entrance of new registrars.

Additional 1,503 domain names were registered, with renewal of 820 domain names and transfer of only 106 domain names.

The total activities of .ng domain names in December 2014, was less than in the month of November 2014. So far this year, as at December 31, 2014, there were 18,870 domain names registered.

The number of NiRA Accredited Registrars remained at 47, with some applications for Registrar registration undergoing processing.

Speaking on the activities of the Association’s activities in the year under review, Mrs. Mary Uduma, the president, said that despite not meeting the set target in 2014 in terms of domain name registrations, the Association witnessed good year with increase in awareness of .ng domain names and domain business in Nigeria.

She said, NiRA saw a growth in the number of Registrars and domain names and setting the stage for more growth in all spheres of the domain name business in Nigeria.

According to Uduma, “NiRA participated in many awareness programmes/ events and hosted events geared at publicity awareness of .ng domain names and .ng ccTLD. NiRA hosted the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum (NIGF) in June 2014 and also had the opportunity of hosting Africa in Abuja in July 2014 during the ‘Africa DNS Forum’”.

“NiRA participated actively in the Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) in July 2014 and eNigeria all hosted in Abuja, ‘Nigerian Content Consultative Forum’ at Bayelsa, ‘Standard for IT Park’ at Enugu hosted by NITDA and numerous other progammes in the bid to continue creating the awareness of the .ng ccTLD and its operations. NiRA was also at ICANN, AFTLD, IGF and GITEX events last year.

“NiRA entertained students of Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Katsina State, provided support at ‘Kano ICT Quiz 2014 with CITAD’, ‘Next CEO Youth Empowerment’ at LASU, ‘Global Hope and Justice for the Less Privileged at the training of Nigerian Youths with disability on ICT’, ‘Digital Peers International Programme- Agricultural Transformation using ICT’ and many other numerous local programmes”.

She described the growth of NiRA and domain names as very paramount.

Uduma said, “With the commitment and efforts of NiRA Board of Trustees, Executive Board members, staff, Registrars and Registrants, targets were set to increase the number of domain names and the accreditation of registrars. Reasonable increases and progress were made in the .ng domain name business. Even though the growth of NiRA is commendable, the journey is still far from being the best Registry in Africa”.

She added that he Association is competing in a global market and is set to work more vigorously throughout 2015 and in years ahead towards realizing set goals.

“We will not relent. We shall continue to strive for greater achievements and with God on our side and the support of the industry, we shall get there. NiRA remains committed to the growth of .ng domain names and putting forth our best efforts towards growth of the .ng ccTLD and providing the needed support to our teeming Registrars and by extension to our Registrants”.

She said that NiRA is geared to listening to industry forces and paying attention to global trends and would expand our sales to include opening up other zones and release of two letters word domain names to the public. Also we intend to reduce the number of premium domain names and pleaded industry stakeholders continued support to their programmes.

 

 


Kindly share this post

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

E-Business

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

Published

on

Kindly share this post

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.

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

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

Published

on

Kindly share this post

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.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

Published

on

Data Breach
Kindly share this post

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.

 

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending