In keeping with its purpose, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has launched events to mark this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
In collaboration with CISCO, the agency trained 3242 on fundamental and advanced cybersecurity skills the previous year.
Every October, there is a month set out worldwide for education and awareness-raising about cybersecurity.
The global collaboration between public and commercial sector organizations on awareness initiatives enters its 20th year this year.
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NITDA Plans
According to a statement released on Monday and signed by Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Head of the Agency’s Corporate Affairs and External Relations, NITDA has planned a number of programs to mark the 2023 National Cybersecurity Awareness Month that are specifically aimed at educating the public about cybersecurity threats and the precautions we must take to protect ourselves in the ever-expanding digital space.
This year’s commemoration will have the theme “See Yourself in Cyber,” which emphasizes that everyone is accountable for cybersecurity.
“The main purpose of this awareness campaign is to encourage the adoption of safe cyber hygiene. To achieve this effectively, citizens need to accept, understand and be willing to apply these security measures to stay secure”, Umar said.
The focus of celebration
This year’s awareness campaign focuses on sensitising citizens to identifying and countering the following:
Digital Misinformation and Disinformation.
Social media attacks (Authentication and Social Engineering attacks).
Phishing (Phishing scam websites, Email phishing/Business email compromise).
Cyber bullying.
Online responsible behaviour.
Ransomware attacks.
NITDA is forming partnerships with key stakeholders to carry out grassroots awareness programs with the goal of educating the general people about the cyberthreats that they face and the steps they may take to protect themselves.
To be more specific, the Agency is working along with Galaxy Backbone to distribute information flyers that have been carefully developed for organizations that are part of the public sector.
“The Agency has, in conjunction with O-range Cybersecurity Training Service Limited, conducted Cybersecurity Training in Ilorin, Kwara State, where more than 5,000 youths from various states participated”, Umar explained.
Further Details
The NITDA-Cisco Cybersecurity Awareness Training aimed at training 4,000 youths in Ethical Hacking, Endpoint Security, Network Defense, and Cyber Threat Management. The call for application was opened on the 2nd October while the portal for the virtual training will be opened on 18th October 8, 2023;
A two-day Innovation Challenge on Cybersecurity programme, designed to identify and showcase innovative technologies on cybersecurity with special focus identifying solutions that can be adopted in the public sector. So far, over 3,000 applications have been submitted; and
General Awareness programme focusing on sensitising the public on NITDA’s initiatives and services such as:
Trustmark system for online trading.
Free Web Application Firewall for all MDAs.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
Free Vulnerability Analysis and Penetration Testing (VAPT) for MDAs; and
Monitoring of MDAs portals, social media monitoring and recovery, digital forensics, Cyber drill, and Cybersecurity Training.
“We therefore call on private and public sector organisations as well as the public to join us in ensuring that the Nigerian Cyberspace is safe and secure. Together, we can make the Nigerian cyberspace and the world at large safe and secure for all.”