E-Business
NIMC’s Proposed National ID Gets Cold Reception
Federal government recently announced plans to launch three new national identity cards in May, targeting 104 million citizens.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to establish a unified and secure digital identity framework across the nation.
In an X post on April 6th, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) disclosed the news with a statement signed by Kayode Adegoke, the body’s corporate communication lead.
Per the official statement, the ID will be powered by AfriGo, a national card scheme created by the country’s apex bank (CBN) to perform domestic transactions such as existing debit cards and the like.
The Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) is teaming with the NIMC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the initiative.
According to benjamindada.com, it is the umpteenth time Nigerians are being introduced to a system of identification.
Since the late 2000s, citizens have been subject to various forms of the same, including national ID cards, bank verification numbers (BVN), and national identification numbers (NIN), each of which has stirred controversy.
Under the newly proposed scheme, Nigerians are getting a bank-enabled national ID, a social intervention card, and an optional ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card, as disclosed by Ayodele Babalola, technical adviser, Media, and Communications to the Director-General of NIMC.
From the looks of reactions, particularly on social media, the plan is not going down well with Nigerians, most of whom have already been profiled under the country’s existing identification schemes. To some, the system is becoming too complicated and redundant to keep up with due to the hassles that come with it.
“The most interesting thing about all things is that it is never in the masses’ favor but an avenue to loot and create an unnecessary inconvenience for the masses. From NATIONAL ID CARD, BVN, NIN, and now, A new National ID CARD,” @Akewusolaf commented.
In another opinion, @MikaelCBernard said, “This is unnecessary. A simple plastic ID with a QR code to verify is enough. You’re not a fintech, leave credit card issuing alone”.
In 2021 and 2022, the government allocated over N50 billion (≈$38 million) to NIMC to procure “state-of-the-art” equipment for NIN registration.
Regardless of the funding, Nigerians endured to meet the registration deadlines and link their identification numbers with their SIM cards. The country’s telecoms watchdog has at some point blocked un-linked phone lines.
Idris Abubakar, a Nigerian tech journalist pointed to more than 14 years of the government’s attempt at the same idea.
“They have failed each time. Under a new Minister of Interior, an individual with a controversial track record, it’s clear that the NIMC will push ahead with the same idea. Contracts will go out, but no work will be done,” he said.
Isa Pantami, then minister of Communication and Digital Economy, had come under fire due to the NIN’s ineffectiveness when it comes to addressing rising insurgency and kidnapping.
There is no indication how the new system will make up for the former’s shortcomings.
The 2024 Digital Identity Fraud in Africa Report by Africa’s leading identity verification startup, Smile ID, revealed that the Nigerian National Identity document is one of the most vulnerable in the continent, coming in 9th place overall.
Credit: benjamindada.com,
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.
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.
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.
Cyber security firm, Kaspersky, has once again warned that sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target Africa as ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs) escalate across the region.
Speaking at the company’s annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, the cybersecurity firm’s Global Research and Analysis Team highlighted growing digital threats affecting African nations.
Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa emerged as hotspots, with Kenya recording one of the highest web threat incident rates at 20.1% in first quarter 2025.
“While ransomware is less prevalent in Africa due to lower levels of digitisation and economic constraints, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are seeing a sharp rise in attacks,” said Sergey Lozhkin, head of META and APAC regions at Kaspersky.
Kaspersky noted a 0.01 percentage point increase in African ransomware cases year-on-year, reaching 0.41%, still below global and Middle Eastern averages, but a troubling sign for the continent’s emerging digital infrastructure.
Experts warned that attackers are refining their tactics, shifting focus to unconventional entry points like IoT devices, smart appliances, and misconfigured hardware.
“As these economies expand digitally, sectors such as manufacturing, finance and government are becoming key targets,” said Lozhkin
The cyber-crime landscape is evolving quickly, fuelled by AI tools and dark web access to large language models, which enable less skilled actors to launch convincing phishing and malware campaigns.
Groups like FunkSec, which uses AI-generated code and a low-cost ransom model, are redefining ransomware operations.
“African organisations face the dual challenge of expanding digital footprints and limited cybersecurity awareness. This makes layered defense strategies, including network segmentation, real-time monitoring and regular staff training, essential,” stated Lozhkin
Kaspersky continues to monitor 25 active APT groups in the META region, including SideWinder and MuddyWater, some of which are known to target African institutions.
To bolster defenses, the firm recommends using tools such as its free Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business and the Kaspersky Next suite for threat visibility and response.
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