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Electronic Fraud is Online Equivalent of Stealing – Akindeinde
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.
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Remedial Health Unveils New App with Digital POS to power operations for Africa’s Neighbourhood Pharmacies
Remedial Health, a health tech startup that develops solutions to make Africas pharmaceutical value chain more efficient has unveiled an updated version of its customer-facing app, designed to function as an operating system for neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) across the continent.
The new app comes with a digital POS terminal to support payment collection, virtual business accounts to receive payments, an in-built barcode scanner feature for recording product sales and store-switch functionality to enable the seamless management of multiple stores, as well as inventory management solutions for restocking and easily identifying short-dated products.
The app also offers comprehensive financial reporting to manage profit and loss, and data analytics to inform decision making.
Despite accounting for 85 per cent of retail medicines sold in Africa’s pharmaceutical industry (projected to reach $70 billion market size by 2030), the absence of bespoke digital tools to manage their unique sales and inventory management needs means neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) are unable to run their operations as effectively and profitably as possible.
At the same time, the reliance on paper-based inventory and sales management processes means manufacturers have limited empirical insights into customer behaviour to inform their decisions on production and distribution.
The new Remedial Health app has been designed specifically for healthcare businesses in Africa, with tailored features that have been designed to support effective decision making to drive business growth and profitability.
Starting in Nigeria, healthcare businesses can access vetted medicines, and manage their sales and inventory on one easy-to-use platform, freeing up time and capacity to effectively serve their customers and communities.
The app also enables Remedial Health to provide consolidated, real-time data on market behaviour to manufacturers for increased profitability and better decision-making across the value chain.
According to Samuel Okwuada, CEO, and co-founder of Remedial Health, “Neighbourhood pharmacies and PPMVs represent the frontline of healthcare delivery in Africa but they have historically been left to their own devices to figure out how to be efficient and profitable.
“Our mission is to empower these essential service providers with the tools they need to manage day-to-day operations and seamlessly run their practices effectively. We spent a lot of time interacting with our customers in the process of delivering this product and the feedback has been great.
“We are excited by the opportunity to get the app into the hands of pharmacies and PPMVs across the country to support their ongoing success, as well as the health and wellbeing of the nation”.
In 2023, Remedial Health sold more than 300 million individual packs of medicines to 7,500 hospitals, neighbourhood pharmacies and PPMVs across all 36 states of Nigeria.
Its customers also improved their profits by 30 per cent on average, with access to more than 8,000 vetted products at the same, or better than, open-air medicine market prices.
They can also access same-day delivery and leverage inventory financing to minimise cash-flow friction for routine orders and maximise sales opportunities.
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EnterpriseNGR Expands Financial Centres to Three African Countries
EnterpriseNGR has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up the Africa Roundtable of Financial Centres – a chapter of the World Alliance of International Financial Centres, in Mauritius, Morocco and Rwanda.
The MoU, signed recently in Mauritius, brought together EnterpriseNGR, the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, Casablanca Finance City Authority, and Rwanda Finance Limited to foster collaboration, promote investment opportunities, and drive sustainable development within the financial centres of its member countries and Africa at large.ort the exchange of best practices between members, enhance visibility regionally
A statement from EnterpriseNGR said that it was joining forces with the three countries to specifically pursue five key objectives.
These objectives include “Jointly strengthen the competitiveness of financial centres in Africa. Collaborate through projects, research papers, communiques, and events to position the African Continent, demonstrate the myriad of investment opportunities, and showcase the role that financial centres play within the African Continent.
“Conduct joint initiatives to supp and internationally, and provide African financial centres with a unified voice regionally and internationally.
“Facilitate the development of dialogue with major financial centres outside the African Continent and build communication channels with African institutions, including regulators and policymakers, as well as African financial services industry associations, and advocate for regulatory coordination amongst members of the Africa Roundtable to promote cross-border investments and financial services.”
Commenting on this collaboration, the Chairperson of the Africa Roundtable, Mr Ken Poonoosamy, said, “The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC represents a pivotal stride in fostering synergy among financial hubs within the African sphere, with the shared objective of catalysing economic advancement across the continent.”
Ms Obi Ibekwe, the Chief Executive Officer of EnterpriseNGR, represented by the Director of Policy & Public Affairs, Mr Lami Adekola, expressed her excitement over the development.
She said, “It is a historic achievement, and EnterpriseNGR fully endorses the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC and is excited for the immense opportunities it represents for Nigeria and the African continent. Our collaboration with the four African countries promises to bolster financial competitiveness on the Continent and amplify Africa’s global presence.
We will leverage this Roundtable to unlock the full potential of African financial centres to drive prosperity and development for our nations and beyond.”
EnterpriseNGR became a member of WAIFC in 2023 during the WAIFC board meeting hosted by TheCityUK in London.
The MoU, which was signed recently in Mauritius, brought together EnterpriseNGR, the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, Casablanca Finance City Authority, and Rwanda Finance Limited, to foster collaboration, promote investment opportunities, and drive sustainable development within the financial centres of its member countries.
A statement from EnterpriseNGR said that it was joining forces with the three countries to pursue five key objectives.
According to the group, these objectives include “jointly strengthen the competitiveness of financial centres in Africa. Collaborate through projects, research papers, communiques, and events to position the African continent, demonstrate the myriad of investment opportunities, and showcase the role that financial centres play within the African continent”.
It added that it would enable it to “Conduct joint initiatives to support the exchange of best practices between members, enhance visibility regionally and internationally, and to provide African financial centres with a unified voice regionally and internationally.
Facilitate the development of dialogue with major financial centres outside the African Continent and build communication channels with African institutions, including regulators and policymakers, as well as African financial services industry associations, and advocate for regulatory coordination amongst members of the Africa Roundtable to promote cross-border investments and financial services”.
Commenting on the collaboration, the Chairperson of the Africa Roundtable, Mr Ken Poonoosamy, asserted, “The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC represents a pivotal stride in fostering synergy among financial hubs within the African sphere, with the shared objective of catalysing economic advancement across the continent.”
Ms Obi Ibekwe, the Chief Executive Officer of EnterpriseNGR, represented by the Director of Policy & Public Affairs, Mr Lami Adekola, expressed her excitement over the development.
She stated, “It is a historic achievement, and EnterpriseNGR fully endorses the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC and is excited for the immense opportunities it represents for Nigeria and the African continent.
“Our collaboration with the four African countries promises to bolster financial competitiveness on the Continent and amplify Africa’s global presence. We will leverage this Roundtable to unlock the full potential of African financial centres to drive prosperity and development for our nations and beyond.”
Uncategorized
5 Emails You Should Delete Instantly
Amidst the daily influx of emails flooding into your inbox, it’s crucial to remain vigilant for signs of potential cyber threats. Keep a lookout for these seemingly innocent phrases that could spell trouble for your cybersecurity.
Trevor Cooke, the online privacy expert at EarthWeb, identifies five phrases you can search for in your inbox to weed out dangerous messages.
1. “Urgent Action Required”
Trevor advises, ‘This phrase often indicates an attempt to create a sense of urgency and pressure the recipient into taking immediate action without thoroughly considering the consequences.’ Cybercriminals may use this tactic to trick individuals into clicking malicious links or downloading harmful attachments.
Example: “Your account has been compromised. Urgent action required to secure your account. Click here to verify your login credentials.”
2. “Account Suspension”
Emails claiming that your account will be suspended unless immediate action is taken should raise suspicion. Cybercriminals often employ this tactic to coerce recipients into providing sensitive information or credentials under the guise of resolving a purported issue.
Example: “Your account will be suspended within 24 hours due to suspicious activity. To avoid account suspension, please confirm your account details by replying to this email.”
3. “Congratulations! You’ve Won”
Beware of emails proclaiming unexpected winnings or prizes, especially if you haven’t participated in any contests or lotteries. Trevor says, ‘Such emails often serve as bait to lure recipients into divulging personal information or clicking on malicious links.’
Example: “Congratulations! You’ve won a luxury vacation package. Click here to claim your prize by providing your personal details.”
4. “Click Here For A Special Offer”
Phrases enticing recipients to click on links for exclusive deals or offers should be approached with caution. Cybercriminals frequently use this tactic to redirect users to phishing websites designed to steal login credentials or install malware on their devices.
Example: “Don’t miss out on our limited-time offer! Click here to claim your 50% discount on all purchases.”
5. “Unusual Login Activity Detected”
‘Emails alleging suspicious or unauthorized access to your accounts aim to incite panic and prompt immediate action,’ notes Trevor. However, legitimate service providers typically communicate such notifications through their official platforms rather than through email.
Example: “We detected unusual login activity on your account. Click here to verify your identity and secure your account.”
How To Respond
Trevor recommends, ‘Upon encountering emails containing red flag phrases indicative of potential threats, the best course of action is to delete the email immediately and block the sender. Refrain from clicking on any links or downloading attachments to safeguard your personal information and maintain tight cybersecurity.’
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