Oluseyi Akindeinde is the chief technical officer of Digital Encode, a cyber- security company involved in the implementation of security measures and certification for banks and others.
Akindeine is a thoroughbred cyber-security expert with over 10 years working experience in cyber-security space in Nigeria.
He started his career with a company called Datasphir from where he joined Digital Encode as a co-founder.
His company has initiated and implemented measures aimed at fighting cybercrime and electronic fraud such as managing of Nigerian Electronic Fraud Forum and cyber-security operation centre.
He spoke to chike onwuegbuchi on issues around fighting cybercrime in the country.
 
 
State of Cybercrime and Fight in Nigeria
Cybercrime is still on the rise despite efforts to curtail it. To be honest it is not unexpected as most transactions are concluded online end-to-end.
Organizations have done quite a lot in reducing this menace but in my opinion, people (as opposed to technology and process) still remain the critical part of this.

Impacts of Cybercrime Law
For one, it is expected that anyone found to have committed any type cybercrime act will be brought to book and made to face the consequences.
Cybercrime or electronic fraud, is the online equivalence of stealing and such same measures should be meted out to anyone found to have committed the act.

Things to Ensure Maximum Benefit of the Law
Oh yes there are and it has already been set in motion by the formulation of the Cybercrime Advisory Council by the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). Part of the mandate of the advisory council is to reinforce and enhance the implementation of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 and the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy adopted on the February 5, 2015, which outline the legal, institutional and technical frameworks needed to drive the nation’s preparedness to fight cybercrime and protect Nigeria’s national interests in its engagements in cyberspace.

Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)
Of course it is needed. Just as we have people securing and safeguarding Land, Sea and Air, we need a national CERT to secure our cyberspace.
The battles of the future will not be fought by fighter jets but in cyberspace. Furthermore, efforts should be put in capacity building and training of the people who would man the CERT.

Banks on Implementation of Security Certification such as PCI DSS
Again Fraud cannot be totally eliminated once you have the ‘people’ factor. No matter the amount of technical controls you put in place, if someone is going to fall for a social engineering attack, those controls cannot stop it.
It is incumbent on the financial institutions to sensitize the public on the dangers of phishing and social engineering tricks.
Personal information should never be given online as NO bank will request for it. This includes, Passwords, Passcodes, PINs. These are to remain private and never handed to anyone.

Cyber-Security Operation Centre (CSOC) and Fight against Cybercriminal
It’s the first independently operated SOC. It’s our attempt at assisting organisations, especially financial institutions, monitor their systems and networks for anomalous traffic patterns.
We not only monitor but also alert at imminent danger if any.
We do this all day, every day freeing the Financial Institutions to conduct business without thinking about security. We also assist in cybercrime investigation, recovery and digital forensics.

Digital Encode and the Nigerian Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF)
NeFF was inaugurated by the bankers’ committee in 2011 to address and proactively manage the incidences of electronic fraud and related matters in the industry. The forum is made up of the CBN, the deposit money banks (DMB), law enforcement agencies (LEA) and other stakeholders in the financial services sector.
Our mandate is to assist the forum in gathering, analysing and reviewing fraud data, conducting forensics and predictive analytics as well as training and capacity building for industry personnel.

Digital Encode in Cyber Security Space
We are the foremost cybersecurity company in Nigeria and we constantly assist organisations achieve optimum security by providing services such as Advanced penetration tests, compliance to global information security standards such as PCIDSS, ISO 27001 and CoBIT.

Emergence as the Cyber Security Company at Beacon of ICT Awards
It’s a fantastic award for our organisation and it only goes to show recognition for what we have been doing. We truly appreciate it.