E-Business
NOTAP Extends IPR Awareness Campaign to Gombe, Commissions 56th IPTTO
The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in her continued awareness creation on the importance of Intellectual Property Right (IPR), in Nigeria, recently commissioned the 56th Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO) in Gombe State University.
Speaking at the Commissioning ceremony, the Director General of NOTAP, Dr.DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim said that the establishment of IPTTO in Gombe State University was to ensure the documentation and processing of inventive and innovative activities in the region for Patenting and Commercialization.
He described Intellectual Property (IP) as the creation of human intellect, adding that it needs to be protected to enable the creator or the inventor enjoy the financial benefits of their inventions for a period of 20 years.
He said that Nigeria has a weak intellectual property culture but the introduction of IPTTO in some Nigerian knowledge institutions is to create the awareness on the importance of protecting our IP. Dr. Ibrahim stated that inventions and innovations were products of research and researches are conducted in knowledge institutions therefore it was imperative to ensure that University and Polytechnic researchers were aware of the benefits that awaits them for engaging in researches that have potential of translating into tangible goods and services.
The DG further stated that for a nation to be recognised in the global technology arena, it must have a vibrant Science, Technology and Innovation system. He noted that no Nigerian University is ranked among the top 100 Universities in the world because of weak culture of innovation. He added that innovations coming from Universities in the developed Countries translate into goods and services that generate income for such universities.
Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chancellor of Gombe State University, Prof. Aliyu El-Nafaty said that the newly established IPTTO would assist the University Community in harnessing the innovative potential in the State to fast-track technology development of the State.
He commended the Director General of NOTAP for the numerous projects targeted at bridging the gap between the academia and the industry, adding that it will be difficult for innovative activities within the knowledge institutions to strive if the industries are not collaborating with the academia. He further stated that the industries are the major consumers of research and development (R&D) result therefore there must be collaboration between the two for effective development of the country.
According to the VC, there were so many indigenous inventors and innovators within and outside the university community within the state that requires clear direction on how their innovations could benefit them, adding that with the establishment of the Office, the university will collaborate with them to ensure that their inventions are patented and Commercialized.
He regretted that prior to now, the university had lost a lot because there was no deliberate attempt to collate and promote the various innovative activities occasioned by weak knowledge of the benefits accruing from intellectual property protection.
In her goodwill message, the Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Gombe State who was acknowledged as being the brain behind the location of the office at Gombe State University, Dr. Aisha Maigari said that the office would provide an opportunity for researchers to excel.
She said that a lot of artisans and professionals have engaged in various innovative activities but they needed to be guided properly on the kind of research that will be beneficial to them and the larger society. She added that the establishment of IPTTO will streamline their research undertakings to engaging in market driven research as against conventional research.
In her words, “going forward as a Ministry, we are going to have a data bank of our innovators and inventors within the state to ensure that they are properly guided in their research undertaken in order to engage in researches that will transform into goods and services for the benefit of the citizenry”.
She therefore expressed appreciation to the Director General for the support and pleaded for continuous support and collaboration whenever the opportunity calls.
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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