E-Business
The African DNS Market and Echoes of ICANN 59
I led the NiRA delegation to the just concluded ICANN 59 Public Meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 26th to 29th June 2017. Because the meeting held in Africa, more focus was on our continent of Africa and the activities. The Nigeria Community was represented and appreciated.
The Government Advisory Committee (GAC) of ICANN met and all sessions were conducted as open meetings.
The discussions hovered around 2-character country codes at the second level, DNS abuse mitigation, geographical names as Top-Level Domains, etc. All the sessions were educative and interactive.
ICANN released its final report on the African DNS Market Study. The report is part of ICANN’s outreach efforts to support and improve the regional DNS industry. It was a study of 54 African countries.
The report highlighted the strength and weakness in the DNS sector in Africa, explored options for continuous monitoring of the growth, developing and emerging needs of the DNS market in Africa. The findings of the report were to guide the next steps for capacity building in Africa.
The report met with a lot of criticisms from most ccTLD operators at its unveiling. Indeed, when it was my turn to discuss the report at the presentation, my observations were:
The Study Used Data That Was Older Than the Span of the Study
The Nigerian data used was almost two years old. I suggested that it would have been great if the study looked at the trend on an annual basis, but the study itself took almost 18 months to complete, thus an annual appraisal will not work for now.
The study estimated the size of the domain worth, using domain names instead of the business. The value of the business, hence name is not the cost of the domain alone. For some businesses, the name is the business, e.g. hotels.ng.
The Study Did Not Consider the Impact of Premium Domains
Most ccTLDs like .ng, .ke etc have the possibility of offering names with premium value, and indeed NIRA has been successful with offering premium domains.
The study did not correlate domain uptake with GDP as well as the impact of Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and entrepreneurship, key drivers on domain name uptake.
Authors of the report agreed with all points raised.
NIRA has seen a year-on-year growth of not less than 60% in domain names. The study noted NIRA at 40,000 domains, that was the count two years ago. We have since crossed the 90,000 mark.
The next phase in the implementation plan of the study, is the setup of a DNS Observatory, to provide more accurate information for accurate planning and forecasting in Africa. NIRA is delighted to be a part of all these efforts.
Rev’d Sunday Folayan is the president, NIRA Executive Board and led Nigeria’s delegation to ICANN Meeting in South Africa recently.
Culled from NiRA e-newslettter101
E-Business
Kaspersky Warns of a New Phishing Technique Leveraging Bubble, a no-code AI Platform

Kaspersky has discovered a new phishing tactic used to evade traditional security controls that exploits Bubble, a platform that allows users to build web and mobile applications through a visual interface without writing code.

Attackers are increasingly adopting innovative tools designed for legitimate software development and repurposing them to boost phishing campaigns.
Traditional phishing attacks often rely on malicious links or obvious redirection techniques, which are typically flagged and blocked by modern security systems.
However, attackers are now leveraging Bubble’s no-code environment to generate intermediary web applications which are hosted on Bubble’s legitimate infrastructure and trusted domains such as *.bubble.io, which improves their credibility and helps them bypass security filters.
These applications function as disguised redirectors, silently forwarding victims to malicious credential-harvesting websites.
In the observed campaign, victims were ultimately redirected to a convincing imitation of a Microsoft login page, protected by a Cloudflare verification layer designed to further obscure malicious intent.
This technique is likely being integrated into broader phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms and phishing kits. These kits enable a wide range of malicious capabilities with ready-made tools, including real-time interception of session cookies, driving phishing campaigns through legitimate services such as Google Tasks and Google Forms, and carry out adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks that can bypass multi-factor authentication.
They also support the generation of phishing emails using AI, implement geo-filtering and anti-detection mechanisms to evade security crawlers and are often hosted on reputable cloud services like AWS to avoid blacklisting.
“The use of legitimate platforms like Bubble introduces a new level of trust abuse, making it harder for both users and automated systems to distinguish between safe and malicious content. This significantly increases the likelihood of credential theft, unauthorised access and potential data breaches,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.
E-Business
NITDA Takes Over National Digital Architecture System

Nigeria has taken a major step toward strengthening its digital governance framework as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) officially assumes control of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) infrastructure.

The handover ceremony held in Abuja, marks the culmination of a high-level partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
This transition signals a shift from fragmented IT projects to a unified, disciplined approach to national digital investment.
The NGEA initiative forms a core part of the e-Government Masterplan 2.0 (Ne-GMP 2.0), aimed at establishing a unified and structured approach to managing government IT investments and digital resources.
The framework is designed to ensure that technology deployment across public institutions aligns with national priorities while improving efficiency and accountability.
With the system now operational, government agencies are expected to adopt more integrated digital processes, allowing seamless data sharing and interoperability.
This is anticipated to reduce duplication, strengthen risk management, and translate policy objectives into measurable digital outcomes.
Over the past two and a half years, Nigerian technical experts worked closely with their Korean counterparts to develop the architecture framework, create reference models, and execute pilot programmes in key institutions.
These include the National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and NITDA.
Officials say the NGEA represents a shift from fragmented digital efforts to a more coordinated, citizen-focused system.
The infrastructure is hosted by Galaxy Backbone Limited, providing a secure and reliable platform for nationwide deployment.
Looking ahead, NITDA is expected to work with government stakeholders to expand and sustain the system, while the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will provide policy guidance to ensure its adoption across the country.
E-Business
FG Shifting Focus to “Meaningful Connectivity” to Drive Inclusion – Minister

Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said the government is shifting focus from expanding access to ensuring “meaningful connectivity” that drives economic growth and inclusion.

Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy
The minister made the statement on Friday while addressing stakeholders at the inauguration of board members of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Abuja.
He said that although Nigeria had made significant progress since the introduction of GSM services, millions of people, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain either unconnected or unable to fully benefit from digital services.
Dr Tijani highlighted ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and nearly 4,000 telecom towers nationwide.
He said initiatives under the USPF had improved access through projects such as rural connectivity and digital facilities in schools but stressed that the next phase must prioritise effective usage.
“It is not enough to connect a community. We must ensure that schools can teach with digital tools and that small businesses can access market opportunities,” he said, citing a pilot project in the Kura community where connectivity has enhanced access to communication, education and healthcare.
Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also called for a shift towards meaningful connectivity, noting that while data usage had grown significantly, it remained concentrated in urban areas.
According to him, recent data shows that telecom usage has increased by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban demand.
“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres. So, the gap between those who are not connected or not meaningfully connected is growing,” he said.
Dr Maida added that the trend underscored the need for the USPF board to intensify efforts to bridge both access and usage gaps across the country.
Both officials emphasised the importance of collaboration, sustainable investment models and improved digital literacy to ensure that connectivity translates into real economic benefits for Nigerians.
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