E-Business
Securing Your Organization Against Ransomware Attacks
Nigerian businesses continue to reap immense gains from deploying contemporary digital technologies in the design and execution of their processes. But these tools aren’t always insulated from potential sabotage. Malicious actors may find vulnerabilities in those technologies, and exploit such weaknesses to wreak havoc on the organizations that use them.
One way that cybercriminals do this is by targeting their victims with ransomware. Over the past decade, cyberattacks involving ransomware have grown in number, and have become more sophisticated. These attacks hit SMEs and large corporations, and even public sector agencies, and costs them tens of millions of naira.
If you are a business or an institution in Nigeria, you should be concerned about ransomware and the damage it could cause you.
Ransomware: A Brief Introduction
Ransomware is a program that blocks access to its victim’s files until the victim pays a ransom. Cybercriminals infect a target’s computer with it, aiming to extort a specific amount of money from that target in return for restored access, in a manner akin to a kidnap-for-ransom.
Typically, the perpetrator would send ransomware disguised as a harmless file to victims. If the target downloads or opens the file, it infects their system. The program may be spread through email attachments, malicious URLs, remote desktop protocol, and even malicious advertising.
Newer ransomware types can self-propagate across a network, potentially infecting every system used in an organization. They are capable of shutting down entire businesses.
Ransomware Attacks Are Fairly Common
Reports on the state of IT and the contemporary business environment reveal that ransomware attacks are fairly common across the globe. Not surprisingly, they are usually concentrated on businesses.
In 2020 alone, there were an estimated 304 million ransomware attacks worldwide. This was up 62% on the previous year. According to the Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team, there was “a seven-fold jump” in the number of reported ransomware incidents in the first half of 2020.
Some of that spike in activity was attributed to cyber criminals trying to exploit lapse IT security during the COVID-19 pandemic; their targets were predominantly remote workforces. However, these incidents have numbered in the hundreds of millions per year since 2016.
Nigerian organizations have been affected. A report by the Sophos Group, a UK-based security software and hardware security firm, revealed that 53% of the Nigerian businesses it surveyed had been victims of ransomware in 2019.
Of the businesses hit, about 38% of them admitted to paying the attackers to regain access to their files. However, the Sophos report indicated that these payments didn’t always result in the victims recovering all their resources.
A Few Well-Known Ransomware Attacks
In 2019 and 2020, many companies worldwide were targeted by ransomware called Ryuk. It is spread via malicious emails that contain dubious links or attachments. If successfully deployed on an organization’s computers, it can request a ransom of more than $300,000. As of January 2021, cybercriminals had reaped more than $150 million from Ryuk.
Three years before this, another ransomware, Petya, began infecting computers in several countries. It denied users access to their Operating Systems and demanded a $300 ransom from them. A later version did not unlock the infected system even after the ransom was paid.
The most infamous ransomware attack to date involved the WannaCry program, which infected more than 200,000 computers in over 150 countries. In May 2017, it spread across the world fairly rapidly, affecting both businesses and public institutions. The global cost of the attack is believed to have exceeded $4 billion.
Since the first known ransomware was created in 1989, several more have been designed and deployed, to devastating effect.
Organizations Incur Significant Costs from Ransomware Attacks
The cost of recovering from a ransomware attack has doubled in the past year. The cumulative global cost was well over $1 billion in 2020 alone.
Sophos says that these incidents cost mid-sized businesses an average of $133,000 annually. Some companies incurred several million dollars in recovery costs. In many cases, this expenditure racks up from multiple incidents.
The most hard-hit sectors included media, IT and telecoms, and energy/oil and gas utilities. The public sector was the least frequently targeted. Regardless, organizations in these domains have spent large amounts of money on damages inflicted by ransomware.
Unfortunately, many SMEs are unable to bear the financial weight of recovery. At least 1 in 5 of these businesses shut down within a year of suffering an attack. Bigger companies are better able to cope, but they too aren’t immune from the burden that such events bring.
How to Protect Your Organization Against Ransomware
The threat of a ransomware attack is ever-present. You will do well to prepare for an attempted strike against you.
Map your assets and note the degrees to which each one is vulnerable to an attack. Work with your IT team to prepare a resilience plan, complete with data backup, business continuity, and recovery strategies.
Also, ensure that the latest Operating Systems patches are applied when they become available, and update critical software as soon as is possible. Carry out penetration tests to determine where the weak points are, and fix them.
Adopt enhanced passwords and multi-factor authentication for staff at your organization. Train them to verify emails and other messages before engaging with them, and not to open websites unless they have a URL that begins with ‘HTTPS’ (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). The last ‘s’ is crucial; it indicates a secure site.
A Partner You Can Trust
Ransomware attacks have grown more sophisticated and precise over time. If you have sensitive data to protect, you will want to work with IT security experts to set up a strong defense for your organization.
Layer3 provides this expertise through its cybersecurity services. With our IT risk vulnerability and management, email authentication, and network access solutions, you can build a strong buffer against various kinds of cyber threats, including ransomware.
To find out more about our IT security offerings, or the other services we provide, you can contact us here.
Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall, potentially as soon as next month, The Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The company introduced its Maia AI chip in November 2023 but has lagged rivals such as Alphabet and Amazon in scaling up its in-house chip efforts as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s costly processors.
Google began recognizing revenue from direct sales of its custom AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, in the quarter ended June, while Amazon has also seen growing adoption of its processors, including its Trainium chips.
Microsoft has been in talks with chipmaker TSMC to secure manufacturing capacity for more than 300,000 units of the chip for delivery in 2027, according to the report. It is also looking to significantly ramp up production and persuade major cloud customers such as Anthropic to adopt the chip.
Microsoft ultimately aims to secure capacity for more than 1 million Maia 300 chips, though component supplies and ongoing capacity negotiations with TSMC could constrain its plans, according to the report.
It unveiled its second-generation Maia 200 in January, built by TSMC using 3-nanometer technology.
Microsoft packed the chip with a significant amount of SRAM, a type of memory that can provide speed advantages for AI systems handling large numbers of user requests.
X has announced plans to discontinue its Revenue Sharing programme and introduce a new Original Content Rewards programme to reward creators for producing original content on the platform.
The social media company announced the changes at the weekend in a post on its X Creators handle, saying the new programme would reward creators who contribute original content.
“Today, we’re introducing the Original Content Rewards Program, a new way to reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary to X,” the company said.
X said it would stop accepting new enrolments into the Revenue Sharing programme from Friday, while existing participants would continue earning until September 7, 2026.
“Starting today, we’re no longer accepting new enrollments into Revenue Sharing,” it said.
According to the company, existing Revenue Sharing participants will receive three final payouts, with two scheduled for August 14 and August 28, while the final payment for earnings accrued through September 7 is expected around September 11.
X said existing Revenue Sharing participants would begin getting access to apply for the new programme from September 8, subject to meeting its eligibility requirements.
The first payout under the Original Content Rewards programme will be made on August 28, 2026, while existing Revenue Sharing creators who enrol in the new programme from September 8 will receive their first payment on September 25.
Under the new programme, eligible creators will earn from qualified impressions generated by their original content, with payments made every two weeks.
X defined qualified impressions as unique impressions from Premium users on the Home Timeline feed, where at least 50 per cent of a post is visible.
On the other hand, “The following are excluded from qualified impressions: impressions from the same account counted more than once per post; paid, promoted, or artificially generated impressions; and fraudulent impressions,” it said.
To qualify, creators must be at least 18 years old, live in a country where the programme is available, maintain an account in good standing and have either a personal or vusiness account.
They must also subscribe to X Premium, Premium+ or Premium Business, have at least 500 verified followers and record at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within the previous 90 days.
X said creators must also regularly post original content to remain eligible.
“We want to recognize creators who break news, share expertise, tell stories, create entertainment, and contribute meaningful perspectives to the conversation,” the company said.
The platform said original content could include threads, videos, memes, graphics, illustrations, reporting, analysis, commentary and reactions that add meaningful value to existing conversations.
It said creators who use content produced by others would need to add meaningful commentary, context, analysis, humour or creative transformation for such posts to qualify.
“Building on existing conversations is a core part of X, but simply reposting someone else’s content is not enough,” it said.
X said minor edits such as cropping, filters, borders, watermarks, speed adjustments or simple text overlays would generally not qualify as meaningful transformation on their own.
It also warned that content copied or substantially reproduced from another creator, content downloaded and re-uploaded from X or another platform without being the original author’s, automated content, disinformation and misleading content would be ineligible.
The company said accounts that violate the programme’s requirements could be temporarily or permanently removed from it, depending on the severity of the violation.
It added that creators would be responsible for ensuring they had the necessary rights, permissions or licences to use content created by others.
“Original content is content you personally create that reflects your own voice, perspective, expertise, or creativity,” X said.
The company said the new programme was intended to reward creators who make the platform more valuable by bringing original ideas and perspectives to its conversations.
“The Original Content Rewards Program is designed to reward the creators who start them, shape them, and move them forward,” it said.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has introduced so-called Nigeria’s Certified Cloud Register, regulatory framework developed under the agency’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative to determine which cloud providers are authorized to handle sensitive data, such as banking records.
In effect, from October, NITDA requires banks, fintech companies and other regulated organisations to source cloud infrastructure providers from a national register of certified firms approved to host sensitive financial and government data.
The Certified Cloud Register, is expected to strengthen data sovereignty, improve regulatory oversight and support the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) data localisation policy, which takes effect on January 1, 2027.
Under the framework, banks, fintechs, government institutions and other regulated entities will be able to verify whether cloud service providers, data centre operators, managed service providers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure companies have met NITDA’s certification requirements before entrusting them with critical digital workloads.
The initiative is expected to provide regulated institutions with a standardised process for selecting cloud infrastructure providers that satisfy Nigeria’s technical, security and regulatory requirements.
According to NITDA, the framework establishes “a common national standard, an independent assessment process and a public register of approved providers that banks, fintechs and government institutions can rely on when selecting cloud infrastructure partners.”
The register is expected to become a key compliance tool ahead of the CBN’s directive, which requires all payment transaction data generated within Nigeria to be stored and processed locally, effective from January 1, 2027.
The policy applies to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, payment service providers, switching companies and other financial institutions.
The certification regime is also expected to reshape Nigeria’s cloud computing ecosystem, making regulatory approval a major requirement for cloud providers seeking to handle sensitive data for regulated industries.
Figures cited by NITDA showed that Nigeria’s 10 largest banks spent about N177.91 billion on information technology in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 31 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.
A sizeable portion of the investment currently supports cloud infrastructure hosted outside Nigeria, a trend the new certification framework is expected to address by encouraging greater utilisation of compliant local infrastructure.
NITDA said the certification programme will apply the same technical and regulatory standards to indigenous cloud providers and international hyperscale operators, creating a level playing field for all companies seeking to provide cloud services to regulated sectors.
The agency also disclosed that more than 85 per cent of Nigerian businesses currently rely on cloud services, with the majority using infrastructure hosted outside the country.
It said the new framework is aimed at improving confidence in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure while promoting local capacity and enhancing oversight of critical national data.
Speaking on the objective of the initiative, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director-general of NITDA, said the programme is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy rather than exclude foreign technology companies.
According to him, the initiative is intended “to redefine the terms under which Nigeria participates in the global digital economy rather than isolate the country from international technology providers.”
The Certified Cloud Register forms part of broader efforts by the Federal Government to deepen digital trust, strengthen cybersecurity and ensure that critical financial and public sector data are managed in line with Nigeria’s evolving data governance and sovereignty objectives.
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