E-Business
QNET Launches “SAY NO” Campaign to Boost Fight Against Human Trafficking
QNET, a lifestyle and wellness-focused direct-selling company, has launched the “Say NO” public awareness campaign. This initiative aims to educate communities about the dangers of fake job offers used by fraudsters to lure members of the public into human trafficking.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) defines Human trafficking as a global crime that trades in people and exploits them for profit. People of all genders, ages and backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world. Traffickers use violence, fraudulent employment agencies, and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick, coerce and deceive their victims.
Across Africa and in Nigeria, reputable companies such as QNET, Coca-Cola and even the West African Development Bank (BOAD) have fallen victim to scammers who use their reputable names to deceitfully promise non-existent jobs to members of the public for purposes of exploitation (1 2 3). The lack of awareness about such scams and about Human Trafficking are, therefore, a key challenge in the fight against the vice.
Addressing the issue of Human Trafficking and its impact on society, Mr. Biram Fall, QNET’s Regional General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, said, “Human Trafficking not only destroys the lives of victims and communities, and it is regrettable that scammers often use the names of reputable companies such as QNet to promise fake jobs. We therefore believe that the private sector should support the efforts of states to tackle the vice, and the “Say NO” Awareness Campaign is our contribution. It seeks to empower communities with the knowledge and awareness they need to “Say No!” to the traffickers who want to rob them of their future. “
The Nigerian Government, in collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has made sustained efforts to combat human trafficking. A United States Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report shows that Nigeria has been placed on Tier 2, reflecting significant governmental endeavours. The report indicates an increase in the identification of trafficking victims, rising from 935 in the previous reporting period to 1,634 in 2023.
Addressing the matter, Akeem Ajisafe, Managing Director of Transblue Limited, the Nigerian partner of QNET, said, “The Nigerian government, in collaboration with NAPTIP and other relevant agencies, have shown unwavering commitment to combating human trafficking. Their dedicated efforts can be seen in the increased identification of trafficking victims, which showcases a proactive stance in addressing this critical issue. The Say NO campaign aims to amplify these efforts by educating the youth in Nigeria on recognizing and avoiding fraudulent job offers. Empowering the younger generation with knowledge is essential in fortifying our collective stand against human trafficking, and I believe this campaign will contribute significantly to that endeavour.”
The “Say NO” campaign shall be implemented in several countries, starting with Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Senegal. It consists of a public education campaign that will use radio, billboards, pamphlets and other activities aimed at sensitizing communities, especially in regions where the prevalence of fake job scams is high.
QNET has implemented several measures to prevent the use of its platforms to perpetrate fraud. This includes the implementation of customer identification technology that blocks users from buying products or referring customers from a country different from their own. With this technology, only users with verified identity documents can refer other customers, and those who are in breach of the company code of conduct are removed from the network. Any individual found fraudulently using the company’s name shall be reported to the authorities, and QNet will seek full punishment according to the law.
In addition to these, the company trains its Independent Representatives on its products, ethical practices and entrepreneurial skills, thereby empowering them to generate income for themselves and their families by referring customers to QNet.
E-Business
CrediCorp Partners FintechNGR to Drive Consumer Credit Initiative
Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CrediCorp), has partnered Fintech Association of Nigeria (FinTechNGR) to drive consumer credit scheme initiative through a robust payment platform that would be provided by members of FinTechNGR.
Speaking at a Social Meet in Lagos, organised by FinTechNGR, with the theme: “Augmenting the Future, AI, Credit and Transformation of Nigerian Finance,” the Chairman, CrediCorp Board of Directors, Aderemi Abdul-Bojela, said members of FinTechNGR would have specific roles to play in the partnership, in the areas of providing robust platform for money transfer, technology evaluation, among others.
“Today, CrediCorp is engaging with members of FinTechNGR in a social interactive gathering to discuss collaboration and support for the growth of Consumer Credit Corporation in Nigeria. We want to interact to understand how technology will drive the crediCorp initiative in Nigeria and also to understand the role that members of FinTechNGR will play in all of these initiatives around CrediCorp,” Abdul-Bojela said.
Describing the partnership as a welcome development that will enhance savings culture among Nigerians, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of FinTechNGR, Dr. Babatunde Obrimah, said: “FinTechNGR is an enabler of technology advancement in Nigeria. We bring the players together to drive technology innovation.
“Our role in the FinTechNGR-CrediCorp partnership is to ensure that our members support the growth of consumer credit in Nigeria, by providing the relevant payment platforms for all financial transactions among the banks who are the lenders, the customers who are the burrowers and the CrediCorp who is the guarantor.”
Speaking about the benefits for Nigerians, Obrimah said the Consumer Credit Corporation in Nigeria would enhance the country’s credit culture and enable Nigerians to save and plan well with their savings. “The initiative will address inflation, help in liquidity flow, build trust in customers’ borrowing, boost credit culture and enhance the culture of savings among Nigerians,” Obrimah said.
Addressing the issue of risk and consumer trust, Abdul-Bojela said the CrediCorp has put measures in place to ensure that the banks that would be involved in lending, would be protected and guaranteed of the repayment of the loans within the CrediCorp ecosystem.
He said there would be an independent management that would ensure that the right technology is put in place to recover all monies.
E-Business
NITDA to Integrate of Digital Literacy into School Curriculum
Kashifu Abdullahi, director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), announced plans to integrate digital literacy into Nigeria’s education system, to achieve a 70% literacy rate by 2027 and 95% by 2030.
The NITDA’s DG made the announcement on Wednesday in Abuja during a media parley.
He stated that in order to include digital literacy in the curriculum at all educational levels, from kindergarten to university, the Agency was collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Education.
Abdullahi, said that this program would equip Nigerians with the digital know-how and abilities they need to succeed in the digital economy.
He emphasized that NITDA would also launch the “Digital Literacy for All Initiative” to educate Nigerians outside the formal education system and provide access to quality digital content.
Nigeria would train over two million young people in in-demand IT skills in order to become significant global outsourcing hub
NITDA is also collaborating with the Defence Headquarters and security agencies to develop digital solutions to address security concerns, including the use of drones, artificial intelligence, and other digital resources to combat banditry, abduction, and terrorism, he said.
According to him, the agency’s draft SRAP 2.0 plan aims to establish Nigeria as a digitally empowered nation, with a focus on innovation, national prosperity, and inclusivity.
The director general of NITDA added that, if successfully implemented, this strategy could propel Nigeria into a new phase of digital empowerment and leadership in the global digital economy.
E-Business
Experts Highlight Trusted Relationships as Key Vector
In 2023, more than 1/5 of cyberattacks persisted for over a month, the annual Kaspersky Incident Response 2023 report has revealed, with trusted relationships emerging as one of the main attack vectors in these prolonged cases.
The report draws on the results of Kaspersky’s cyberattack investigations throughout the year, gathered when supporting organisations sought incident response assistance or when hosting expert events for their internal incident response teams.
Primary reasons of organisations approaching Kaspersky Incident Response team with service requests were encrypted files (32.8% of requests), suspicious activities (31%), data leakage (20%), and also included non-authorised accesses (3%), service unavailability (3%) and money theft (1.6%).
Among initial attack vectors of the investigated incidents were exploiting public facing application (42.4%), compromised accounts and BruteForce attacks (28.8% in total), trusted relationships (6.78%), phishing (5%), insider’s activity (3.4%).
Kaspersky Incident Response 2023 report indicates that long-lasting cyberattacks that persist for more than a month constituted 21.85% of the total, increasing from 2022 by 5.55%.
One notable trend observed in these attacks was the exploitation of trusted relationships as a primary vector. Compromises leveraging trusted relationships have occurred previously, but in 2023 their frequency increased.
As this method of attack enables threat actors to infiltrate multiple victims through a single compromised organisation, investigative teams face several additional challenges. Firstly, initially targeted organisations don’t always recognise the importance of thorough investigations and may be reluctant to cooperate.
Secondly, attacks initiated through trusted relationships often require more time to progress from the initial intrusion to the final incursion phase. Therefore 50% of these attacks lasted more than a month. A similar proportion of attacks exceeding one month were exclusively registered within the insider and phishing vectors.
“Our latest findings underscore the critical role of trust in cyberattacks. In 2023 and for the first time in recent years, attacks through trusted relationships were among the three most used vectors. Half of these incidents were discovered only after a data leak had been found.
“By exploiting trusted relationships, threat actors can prolong attacks and infiltrate networks for extended periods, posing significant risks to organisations. It’s imperative for businesses to remain vigilant and prioritise security measures to safeguard against such sophisticated tactics,” comments Konstantin Sapronov, Head of Global Emergency Response Team at Kaspersky.
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