Nigerian banks lost N40bn to
cybercrimes in 2013, the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed on Wednesday.
The Chief Information Security
Officer, CBN, Mr. Taiwo Longe, made this disclosure at the first National Cyber
Security Forum in Lagos. The forum was organised by the Office of the National
Security Adviser.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Ensuring
information security assurance through policy framework’, Longe said cyber
security had become an issue that the central bank was taking with all
seriousness and thoroughness, especially in the cash-less economy regime.
According to him, information
security is concerned with the confidentiality, integrity and availability of
data regardless of the form the data takes, whether electronic, print, or
otherwise.
Longe said, “Financial institutions,
hospitals, telecommunication corporations and private businesses etc amass a
great deal of confidential information about their customers, employees,
products, research findings and financial status, among others.
“As such, there is a need for
maximum security of this information that is collected, processed and stored on
computers and transmitted across computer networks.
“When any of the confidentiality,
integrity and availability of data is impacted, security is said to have been
breached. There are various threats to information security. Some are very
dangerous and disruptive; others are just a nuisance.”
The CBN chief information security
officer noted that the fight against cybercrimes and other threats to
information security could only be won through a robust information security
policy framework.
He said that the CBN had engaged the
banks to comply with some basic currently global security standards in the
management and security of customer information.
Longe also said that the central
bank had ensured compliance with such standards itself.
“While there are a number of
international security standards that organisations are to comply with, some of
which are sector, specific, the CBN has directed all Nigerians banks and other
payment-switching companies to comply with the PCIDSS. Non-compliance is also
attracting sanctions,” he said.
In another development, he said the
market value of global cybercrime had reached $288bn.
Longe said the rising wave of
cybercrime globally was alarming “and it is on that basis that the United
Nations released the damning figures recently.”
“It is about to displace the drug
trafficking market, which is worth $411bn. If anything, this alarming figure
has only proven to us that we are in for a serious issue and that is the reason
we will need to combat this challenge head on in Nigeria,” he added.
In his address, an official of the
Department of Cybersecurity, Office of the National Security Adviser, Mr.
Magaji Aliyu, said in view of the challenges of cybersecurity in Nigeria, the
NSA had been on the forefront of ensuring an all inclusive legislative
discourse on the cybercrime bill.
Aliyu said, “In continuation of
measures towards safeguarding the nation’s presence in cyberspace, while
ensuring the protection of national critical information infrastructure, the
ONSA, in partnership with the Ministry of Communication Technology and Federal Ministry
of Justice, among others, has agreed to host this summit.
“The general objective is to secure
cooperation, understanding and the support of other critical government
agencies, which will help in streamlining the disjointed policy document as
well as achieving a coherent and all-inclusive strategy in which all other
similar cybersecurity undertaken in the country will be infused into the
overall framework of the National Cybersecurity Policy.”
The National Security Adviser, Mr.
Sambo Dasuki, had earlier stated that the forum was informed by the need to
address cybercrime, which had become a national security issue
[Punch]
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