E-Business
Why Corporate Networks Are Breached-Expert
Rock Adote, head, Information Technology (Security & Research), International Electronics Services Limited (I.E.S) has said that most corporate organization in the country do not comply with proper patch management leaving them vulnerable to attacks on the information superhighway.
He also decried the reluctance of companies in Nigeria to perform routine upgrade.
“First, till now, it is sad to know that bank employees, for instance, who handle critical information assets of customers such as card information and account details, still fall for low-level cyber attacks such as digital impersonation and social engineering.
“Organizations do not invest in regular staff training as they ought to do enough. For instance, several studies have revealed that production employees often disclose their place of work on social media websites, accept unknown invitations, share customers personal information during discussions in online chat rooms, even reveal their operating systems architecture, internet address and a bevy of unethical engagements in the cyber space.
“Let me give you a common error predominant in Nigeria banks, a cyber criminal can gain tons of information and perform active reconnaissance by simply entering a bank and view the system of the cashier or the operator, by standing or sitting adjacent to the computer, even in these era where the default “autorun vulnerability” on Microsoft windows proliferates malware infection and tons of systems vulnerabilities, an articulate cyber criminal could simply insert a well-built information-stealing USB drive into a banking system and perform command-line background transfer of critical software and customers information from default system paths such as the two windows and internet temp directory because the store data as it is been processed, and even the system root.
“This highlights the problem of unorganised architecture and lack of safe computing practices as every well-informed banking staff is expected to lock the computer screen when he or she is not on seat, many people don’t do this, forgetting that every customer who enters a bank is on a mission. No third party should even know the operating system you are using not to talk about the application name.
“Some people are yet to understand that the trend in cyber threats have grown beyond computer malware. Another instance is that, if a system is compromised, it is a common practice in this part of the world for the system administrators to install an anti-virus, and scan the system. Thus, as a malware is detected you say all is well. I have been at least in six companies that the activities at their production line were moving on well, but on critical assessment I discovered that the systems have been “totally compromised” even by malicious insiders.
“People always believe that as long as they can type a document, print, browse, send or receive requests then their systems are in good shape. Meanwhile your system is part of a botnet that infects other workstations, with no user interaction of any kind, because these trojans do not inform you when or how they are operating, they send your critical data in bits. No operating system can claim to be secure or water-tight, the best defense is self, because the use of anti-malware program only complements as a layer of baseline security, there must be operational guidance”.
He added that in recent times, several companies have made upgrade compulsory every two weeks due to the vulnerabilities landscape.
“The worst is that the attacks occur so fast that there are presently no industry existing solutions to thwart novel sophisticated attacks. For instance, even though it will affect global customer satisfaction, Google Gmail would refuse software to be uploaded as an attachment in order to protect its entire information systems.
“A rising cyber attack vector is a situation when a cyber criminal sends curriculum vitae in .docx or .pdf to a company and on the process of opening the file the receiving system gets compromised, as the cyber criminal becomes able of implementing remote code execution on the compromised workstation”.
The cyber security expert pointed out that cyber criminals have the time, resources and skills to invest in research, which calls for Nigeria to establish a “Cyber Security Research Community” that has ample time; “it is just like the secure software development life cycle. If as a developer, you fail to comply with secure software development practices you will have applications that hackers will eat up”.
President Bola Tinubu said that his administration has initiated a project to install fibre optic cables across the country, aimed at enhancing the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
His plans were contained in a speech he delivered at a joint session of the National Assembly in commemoration of Democracy Day on Thursday, June 12.
He said the fibre optic layout is part of other projects being embarked on.
“In addition, we have embarked on an ambitious project to lay fibre optic cables across the nation, a transformative step toward bridging the digital divide and fostering greater connectivity.
“This initiative promises not only to enhance the speed and reliability of internet access but also to revolutionise how businesses operate, how students learn, and how communities stay connected,” Tinubu stated.
He maintained that by extending this critical infrastructure, his government is empowering entrepreneurs, enabling digital education, and providing the tools for our youth to compete in a globalised world.
In a most recent report on Internet connectivity, The ICIR pointed out how Nigeria has faced setbacks in its deployment of fibre optic cables and needs a transformation.
The challenges revolve around vandalism, inadequate coordination between road construction and telecom infrastructure, and varying right-of-way (RoW) charges across states.
Among industry experts, these issues impact network outages, increase repair costs, and hinder broadband expansion efforts.
It has also further threatened the digital economy, leading to slower Internet speeds, dropped calls, and unreliable connectivity among others.
African startups raised more than $345 million across 65 deals in May, more than double the amount raised in the same period of last year, according to a report by Briter, a research and business intelligence firm.
The report disclosed that both the number of deals and participating companies declined, confirming a growing trend of fewer companies raising funds in larger sizes.
It said fintech attracted the highest share of funding in May, accounting for 34 percent of the total, while cleantech followed closely, driven by a debt deal from Sun King. The company raised $80 million (in local currency) to expand clean energy access in Nigeria.
“Equity remains the primary instrument in terms of total value. There’s no doubt about it; in fact, equity deals with disclosed amounts captured more than half of the total funding volume in May.
“However, debt financing is increasingly proving its weight. Although it accounted for only 8 percent of all deals, it represented 32 percent of the total funding, highlighting the typically larger size of debt transactions. With the rise of specialised vehicles targeting early-stage businesses, debt is becoming an increasingly important part of Africa’s innovation funding landscape,” it said.
Briter’s report added that grants continued to play a vital role in early-stage support, especially in the education technology (EdTech) sector. The Mastercard Foundation led the pack in grant activity, funding a new cohort of EdTech innovators in Nigeria and Kenya. Each selected startup is set to receive $100,000 in grant funding, in addition to mentorship and business development support.
Multilaterals also made a strong showing in May, it said. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, issued a $179.6 million guarantee to CleanTech firm KOKO Networks. The support will help scale its clean energy solutions across Kenya.
“This deal not only demonstrates growing international confidence in African climate ventures but also signals a promising pathway for other asset-intensive startups in clean cooking, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the report said.
From a geographic perspective, Egypt emerged as the continent’s fundraising powerhouse for the month, contributing 51 percent of all funding raised. The country recorded 12 deals across equity, debt, and bond instruments. Notably, FinTech platform MNT-Halan raised $50 million through a bond issuance, further illustrating the diversification of capital-raising mechanisms in the region.
Outside Egypt, funding was distributed across Africa’s three other key markets, which are Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, with limited activity recorded in countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda, each registering between one and three deals.
In terms of exits, the African tech landscape continues to mature. Three companies—Baobab+, Qardy, and Shopa—were acquired in May, bringing the total number of exits this year to 22. This already surpasses last year’s count for the same period. Qardy was acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) in a disclosed deal valued at $23 million, the report added.
By Nancy Werteen
When you get anti-hacking advice, you’ve probably heard “Don’t use a simple password,” or “Don’t plug in that USB you found on the ground.”
But there’s one form of hacking that doesn’t always require a computer, and it costs businesses about 4.88 million dollars a year.
Modern hackers aren’t trying to get into your computer; they’re trying to get into you.
“They’ll try to learn about you a little bit, and they’ll try to use that information against you to try to get you to complete some action, maybe to send somebody some money,” said Kevin Moran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster, University of Central Florida.
IBM calls this human hacking, because it exploits human error instead of system error.
“With people just being busy and maybe not very carefully checking some of the emails or the phone calls that they get, can be something unfortunately that people can fall victim to,” said Moran.
Also known as social engineering, this often takes the form of phishing, where the hacker tries to “fish” the information out of you by impersonating family, friends, or even your bank.
There’s also baiting, where the hacker baits you with something of value. Remember the Nigerian prince scam?
That’s a famous example of baiting. There’s also pretexting, where the hacker will claim the victim has already been hacked, and that the hacker can fix it if you just send over your passwords. So, what can you do?
“Just as a rule of thumb, instead of clicking on links and emails, just go to the website yourself. And that will prevent, a lot of these types of attacks from happening,” explained Moran.
Phishing can take many forms.
Spear phishing targets people with access to confidential information, often to get access into an entire business, and whale phishing targets CEOs or political figures.
Search engine phishing is when hackers create fake websites promising services or goods you’ll never receive.
Angler phishing is when hackers create fake social media accounts impersonating famous people or companies.
Finally, vishing and smishing is phishing done through phone calls and texts respectively.
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