National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it has granted approval to the 2025 Annual Report and 2026 Business Plan of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA).

The Agency, through an official statement it released on Sunday, also revealed that the “nation’s active .ng domains have hit a total of 241,000.”

Hajiya Hadiza Umar, director of Corporate Communications, NITDA, who signed the statement disclosed that the approval came during a strategic meeting at NITDA headquarters, Abuja, where Adesola Akinsanya, president, NiRA led members of the association’s board to present its 2026 vision to NITDA.

According to NITDA, the endorsement will ensure the acceleration of the adoption of Nigeria’s country code top-level domain, .ng.

It was also disclosed that through the endorsement, both organisations have pledged to strengthen collaboration towards increasing the adoption of .ng domains across Nigeria and supporting the Federal Government’s digital economy agenda.

The statement also noted that  Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general, NITDA has directed NiRA to work closely with NITDA’s e-Governance and Digital Economy Department to ensure effective implementation, project monitoring and regular progress reporting.

‎You have my full approval for these initiatives. Let us change our strategy, sync up more closely, and ensure everything we have agreed upon during this presentation is fully implemented by next year,” Inuwa stated.

‎Speaking on the association’s achievements in 2025, Akinsanya disclosed that NiRA recorded 98,285 new domain registrations, 71,470 renewals and 1,970 restorations, bringing the total number of active .ng domains to 241,000.

‎He said that beyond the growth in registrations, NiRA strengthened the security of Nigeria’s internet ecosystem through the implementation of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), while also improving registrar support and stakeholder engagement.

‎According to him, the association’s 2026 strategy is focused on positioning .ng and .gov.ng domains as the preferred digital identity platforms for government institutions, businesses and citizens.

‎Akinsanya praised NITDA for its continued support and called for joint awareness campaigns and digital capacity-building initiatives to encourage wider adoption among state governments, local councils and public institutions.

‎He further revealed that NiRA is upgrading its internal systems through increased automation and constitutional reforms aligned with global best practices to ensure long-term sustainability.

NiRA is looking into deeper stakeholder engagement and moving into areas where we see massive possibilities. We are specifically targeting startups and aligning with tech events across the country. With stronger collaboration, we can drive widespread adoption across every tier of government,” he said.

The Federal Government has called for the development of inclusive and human-centred artificial intelligence policies that protect workers’ rights and prevent job losses while harnessing the technology’s potential to drive economic growth and productivity.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Muhammad Dingyadi, made the call during the 114th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, while responding to the report of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, titled “A Moment of Choice: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Decent Work,” on Thursday.

Dingyadi said the rapid advancement of AI is transforming labour markets, workplace practices and employment relationships globally, creating both opportunities and challenges for governments, employers and workers.

He noted that while AI can stimulate innovation, improve productivity and expand economic opportunities, it also poses significant risks, including job displacement, widening inequalities and the erosion of the human role in some sectors of the economy.

“The world is moving forward at a rapid pace, underpinned by advances in AI, and we as an organisation must match that pace. While welcoming the positive transformations AI offers, we are also pondering the uncertainties it connotes.

“These shifts, despite their benefits, also cast a dark cloud of uncertainty. Where AI creates new jobs, there may be job losses. Where digital and AI infrastructures are created, there may be a loss of the traditional role and value of the human factor in the work process. We therefore need a balanced approach that ensures that, while harnessing the benefits of AI, the attendant risks do not rob our societies of the gains of decent work,” he said.

The minister commended the ILO leadership for its commitment to advancing the organisation’s mandate despite mounting global economic and social challenges.

Highlighting Nigeria’s efforts to position itself within the rapidly evolving digital economy, Dingyadi said the Federal Government had established the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy to spearhead policies aimed at accelerating technological development and strengthening the country’s competitiveness.

According to him, Nigeria has already begun integrating digital technologies and AI into governance systems through the automation of civil service processes and public service delivery.

“I’m also pleased to inform you that Nigeria is steadily harnessing the gains of this initiative in our Public Service. There is the service-wide automation of civil service processes and communication with AI playing a significant role. Additionally, platform work is gaining ground,” he said.

The minister also welcomed ongoing discussions within the ILO on regulating work in the platform economy, stressing the need for labour standards that protect workers engaged in emerging forms of employment created by digital technologies.

Beyond AI, Dingyadi reiterated Nigeria’s longstanding call for reforms within the ILO, urging member states to accelerate the ratification of the 1986 Amendment to the organisation’s Constitution and review the criteria used to determine countries of Chief Industrial Importance.

He argued that such reforms would promote greater inclusivity, fairness and regional representation within the ILO’s governance structures.

The minister further urged countries to align the ILO Centenary Declaration and the Global Coalition for Social Justice with national development priorities to ensure that technological innovation contributes to social progress and decent work.

Nigeria’s intervention comes amid growing global debate over the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and the future of work.

According to international labour and development agencies, AI is expected to automate some routine tasks while simultaneously creating new employment opportunities in technology, data science, digital services and other emerging sectors.

However, concerns persist that workers in administrative, clerical and repetitive occupations could face significant disruptions if governments fail to implement policies that support skills development, social protection and workforce transition.

The issue has become a central focus of discussions at the ongoing International Labour Conference, where governments, employers and workers’ representatives are examining how AI can be deployed in ways that promote productivity and economic growth without undermining labour rights, job security and social justice.

For Nigeria, the conversation is particularly significant as the country pursues an ambitious digital transformation agenda aimed at expanding broadband access, growing the digital economy and creating millions of technology-driven jobs for its youthful population.

Experts have repeatedly stressed that achieving these goals will require investments in digital skills, education and worker protections to ensure that the benefits of AI are broadly shared across society.

According to a recent global report by Kaspersky Security Services, password guessing and valid account misuse rank among the most effective tactics used by cyber criminals in 2025.

This trend reflects a strategic shift, as attackers move away from triggering endpoint protection with noisy malware, in preference of leveraging legitimate access to evade detection.

The ‘Anatomy of a Cyber World’ is an in-depth global report based on data gathered from Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response (MDR), Incident Response (IR), Compromise Assessment and SOC Consulting in 2025. It covers the most common adversary techniques, tools and detection scenarios and highlights the peculiarities of detected incidents.

According to the report, a significant portion of the most frequently monitored attack techniques revolves around credentials and identity management. This analysis, which examines the conversion rates* of various Indicators of Attack (IoA), highlights the following prevalent malicious tactics:

Password guessing – 34.8%. This technique entails attackers systematically trying different passwords until successfully gaining access to an account. It tops the conversion list due to its occurrence in both actual attacks and authorised security assessments, making it a persistent threat in today’s cybersecurity landscape. Organisations who rely on weak or reused passwords continues to enable this age-old strategy.

Local account creation – 34.7%. Once inside a system, attackers frequently create new local accounts to maintain access even if their original foothold is discovered and removed. This technique is frequently observed during security exercises and can be detected — but only with the right telemetry in place, which is often lacking.

Valid account abuse – 34.5%. Instead of deploying malware, attackers log in using stolen or compromised credentials and simply blend in with normal user activity. This makes detection significantly harder, as the access itself appears legitimate. The high conversion rate underscores why compromised credentials remain one of the most dangerous attack vectors.

Account manipulation – 32%. Attackers modify existing accounts to consolidate access such as by activating disabled accounts, altering group memberships, or escalating privileges. This reinforces the broader pattern — rather than introducing new tools, adversaries deepen their control using what is already there.

Network service discovery – 31.2%. Before moving deeper into a network, attackers typically scan for open services and systems they can reach. This reconnaissance step is a strong predictor of what follows: lateral movement and further exploitation. Detecting it early provides security teams a critical window to intervene.

The report ranks attacker techniques by how frequently observed activity ultimately resulted in confirmed malicious incidents. According to Kaspersky experts, while MITRE ATT&CK® catalogs a vast number of adversary techniques, effective detection requires prioritising behaviours with the highest probability of malicious intent while avoiding excessive false positives.

“Threat actors do not always need sophisticated malware to achieve their objectives. In many cases, legitimate administrative tools and compromised accounts remain the fastest and most effective way to move inside an organisation while avoiding detection.

The continued popularity of these techniques shows that organisations need deep visibility into attacker behaviour and the ability to correlate suspicious activity across different stages of an attack.

To address these challenges, companies can enhance their security with our solutions: Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response and Incident Response which cover the entire incident management cycle – from threat detection to continuous protection and remediation,” comments Sergey Soldatov, Head of Security Operations Center at Kaspersky.