Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured Nigerians of safe and secure cyberspace before, during, and after the 2023 General Elections.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who made the assurance in a statement, noted that it is the responsibility of the commission to ensure adequate protection of Nigeria’s cyberspace to a level that citizens will have confidence in digital services.
“As part of its mandate, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy is expected to ensure adequate protection of Nigeria’s cyberspace.
“This mandate aligns with the goals and objectives of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).” Pantami said.
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How cyberspace will be protected
The minister hinted that on 24th February 2023, he inaugurated the Ministerial Standing Committee on Advisory Role for the Protection of Nigerian Cyberspace and ICT Infrastructure.
The Committee, chaired by the Board Chairman of NCC and with the CEOs of NCC, NITDA (National Information Technology Development Agency) and GBB (Galaxy Backbone) as members, was charged with the responsibilities of Monitoring Telecommunication Infrastructure for the successful conduct of credible, free, fair, and transparent elections.
Others are: Developing and implementing plans to enhance the resilience of critical digital infrastructure against cyber threats; Designing procedures and using technologies to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber attacks, as well as developing the ability to recover from any damage that is done quickly; Developing a comprehensive risk assessment, analyzing the nation’s current cybersecurity capabilities, and identifying gaps that need to be addressed; and Providing professional advice to the Government on the effective utilization of digital technologies in the conduct of the 2023 General Elections.
The minister said that during the presidential election period, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and IPS attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing.
According to him, a total of 12,988,978 attacks were recorded, originating from both within and outside Nigeria, noting that the Centers successfully blocked these attacks and/or escalating them to the relevant institutions for appropriate action.
The communication minister further stated that parastatals under the communication ministry also had before now, created various cybersecurity centres to ensure effective monitoring and security.
“In line with this mandate and in our efforts at supporting the initiatives of securing the Nigerian cyberspace, the parastatals under the supervision of the Ministry have established Cybersecurity Centers, namely, the National Information Technology (NITDA)’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), and Galaxy Backbone (GBB)’s Security Operations Centre (SOC).
“These Centers were established between 2020 and 2022 in line with the Honourable Minister’s policy directives and had been monitoring Nigerian cyberspace for potential threats and taking appropriate actions to mitigate them, both individually and collectively as well as in collaboration with other stakeholders.” The minister said.
He also noted that in the run-up to the 2023 General Elections, threat intelligence revealed an astronomical increase in cyber threats to Nigerian cyberspace. According to him, threats to public websites and portals averaged around 1,550,000 daily, but this skyrocketed to 6,997,277 on Presidential Election Day.
Commending the parastatals
“The parastatals, under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, have played a crucial role in providing the enabling environment for the successful conduct of a credible, free, fair, and transparent election. The Honourable Minister commends all stakeholders in the digital economy ecosystem for their support that resulted into this this unprecedented success.” The statement read.
“More importantly, the Honourable Minister notes that these attainments are as a result of the commitment of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR towards ensuring Nigeria’s successful transition into the digital economy. The digital economy sector has enjoyed continued support of the President and it is highly appreciated. He also hopes that lessons learned during the process will be put to effective use in subsequent elections.” The statement ends.