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Resiliency is the Cornerstone of Future-Proofing Business Continuity

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By Emmanuel Asika

2020 will forever be known as the year that dramatically changed the trajectory of both society and business. From customer and market behaviour to operational systems and processes, we have remained in flux, working to address these changes and challenges from the past two years.

The rise of the hybrid working environment reshaped how organisations, especially technology companies, manage workforces, respond to global cyberthreats, and acquire top talent. Soaring cost-of-living and unreliable supply chains also contribute to an overall backdrop of volatility.

As businesses strive to find a new status quo, leaders must do more to stay in-line with the rapid pace of change. To thrive, the technology industry must build resiliency in these two critical dimensions of operations to cope with the coming disruptions: managing security in the hybrid workplace and training the workforce to become more flexible.

Endpoint security: crucial for business resilience

As companies embrace the hybrid work model, they are exposed to more vulnerabilities than ever before, which means new measures are required to secure employee device endpoints from external threats. Firmware attacks, which can evade detection, have become a major concern for IT leaders. To make matters more challenging, these attacks are becoming increasingly difficult to remediate if left unmanaged.

Recent HP research projects have highlighted the scale of the problem. For instance, the ‘Blurred Lines & Blindspots’ report by HP Wolf Security found that working from home encourages staff to engage in riskier security behaviours, with 70% of those surveyed admitting to using their work device, or letting someone else use it, for personal tasks. Also, 69% said they used their personal laptop or printer/scanner for work activities since the pandemic started.

HP’s ‘Out of Sight & Out of Mind’ report discovered a trend of ‘shadow IT,’ where personal equipment is bought, installed, and used – often in the cloud – meaning security is circumvented. The study further highlighted that some 43% of respondents globally do not even have their PC or laptop checked and installed by their IT department.

Another HP study, ‘Rebellions & Rejections’, revealed that workers’ attitudes toward security and IT further compounded the issues. It showed that 37% of respondents said policies are too restrictive, with 54% of younger workers saying that they are more worried about meeting deadlines than protecting themselves and their business from data breaches.

Shockingly, 31% of workers aged 18-24 have tried, and in some cases successfully evaded security measures and procedures. This has left cybersecurity professionals in a difficult position, with 91% of IT teams feeling pressure to compromise safety for business continuity.

Unsurprisingly, this has become a boon for cybercriminals, with the Q1 2022 edition of the HP Wolf Security Threat Insights Report identifying a 27% increase in the volume of threats captured in the quarter.

Fostering a more resilient workforce

Over and above security, IT and senior managers must take responsibility to inspire, educate and train employees on the necessary business and personal skills to excel in the digitised environment.

There has been pressure on employees to learn new skills, thanks to changes in product development, marketing and sales in the hybrid world. In 2021, Gartner found that nearly six in 10 employees would need to develop new skill sets to do their jobs successfully.

HP for example, is adopting a hiring model that prioritises talent over industry experience. Our aim is to foster a culture of agility and inclusion by reconsidering traditional roles and approaches to all processes, including recruitment and training.

Building strength through resiliency

Considering the extreme changes experienced over the last two years, it is believed that businesses that focus on resiliency across these key organisational pillars will find themselves in a better position to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Despite ongoing changes, we should be responding enthusiastically to the many new opportunities to better connect in this new world.

Emmanuel Asika is Country Head, HP Nigeria

 


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E-Business

Transcorp Hotels Delivers Stellar H1 Results, Declares Over ₦1Bn Dividend

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Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.

The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.

In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.

Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.


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Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

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Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


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NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


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