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4 Disastrous Ways to Push Your Start-up Through Lies

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There was this popular ad on TVs and billboards. The ad introduced a croissant brand into the one of the biggest emerging markets in Africa, Nigeria.

In fact, the feeling was great, the visuals were powerful and compelling. To crown it all, a popular celebrity was used to personify the brand.

If there were a thousand and one consumers craving for the product, I was one of them but for several weeks, I couldn’t lay my hand on ituntil on a very tiring day while returning home from work.

The adrenalin rush to devour the croissant was unimaginable but hey, the traffic law says you shouldn’t eat why driving!

The whole excitement turned into dissonance even before consumption. The product size could not measure up to the same as the size portrayed by the advertisement.

I felt cheated, embarrassed and discomfited for wasting my hard-earned money on a product that could not deliver its promise.

Since there was no value for money, repeat purchase was the last thing on my mind and never would I allow my close associates to make the same mistake.

Things like these are common in mostemerging markets and because the consumer laws are rather weak in these markets, advertisers sometimes escape the necessary regulatory scrutiny and whack.

Be that as it may, below are four ways I think your start-up can unsuccessfully lie to its market:

Making Promises You Can’t Fulfil
Every start-up should be reminded that a brand is a promise to the consumer to deliver a particular desired experience most of the time.

It should be known that consumers offer their trust and loyalty with the implicit understanding that your brand will behave in certain satisfying ways through product/service performance and through appropriate pricing, promotion, and distribution programs. In the croissant story earlier told, do you think I felt cheated because the product was too small? Not at all.

I felt embittered because the advertiser had failed in its promise to meet my expectations as conveyed in the billboard and television.

Believing Advert Would Do The Magic
Troublingly, many well-funded start-ups oftensubscribe to advertisingto blatantly make implicit promises they would never keep.

When the product or service doesn’t match up to the advertised promise, isn’t that like cheating, or at some level, stealing from people’s hopes?

Well, your ever wise customers would soon realise this, jettison your brand and pitch their tent with your competition who is real and truthful.

A marketing professional once said that advertising is powerful but ad is not what the consumer is buying.

You can spend one billion dollar on ad, if the product lacks merit, you would not sell. In fact, your ad begins to irritate. The value of an ad is based on the fact that the product is right.

There is a coinage in marketing, which underscores this, that the best way to kill a bad product is to advertise it.

Bad Positioning
More importantly, in our social media crazed world, venting out broken promises made to consumers has instant ramifications to the credibility and trajectory of your start-up’s perceived value.It is true that the goal of any brand positioning exercise is to develop a brand promise that is unique, compelling and believable.

Any successful brand positioning project must evaluate all potential brand promises against these three criteria – unique, compelling and believable. The winning promise must deliver against all threecriteria or it won’t work.

Thinking That Lies Would Engender Profitability
It’s wrong to assume that lies would ensure profitability. In fact, a lie told will only stimulate trial but never engender repeat purchase that can guarantee sustainable profitability.

Most times, a betrayed consumer will make sure others around him never fall victim. Tell the truth and don’t shoot yourself in the leg.

Don’t over promise and under deliver. Lies shouldn’t be ‘sold’ to push your start-up.

I’m sure you’re still interested in the croissant story I shared with you at the beginning of this article.

Well, I’m pleased to inform you that its makers only survived for two years. The croissant is abysmally dead, never to be resurrected.

Is your start-uppositioned to lie? If yes, please have a rethink!

Jide Ayegbusi is the founder of Edusko.com, an edtechstart-up that connects Africans with good and affordable schools in Africa and beyond. Follow Jide on twitter @jideayegbusi.

 

          


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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Toll Collection on Lagos-Calabar Highway Begins December

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Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, has announced that a section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be tolled starting in December.

Umahi disclosed this during an interview for a forthcoming State House documentary marking the second anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

He said: “By December, we will toll Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway. We project a 10-year return on investment.

“The road has solar-powered lighting and CCTV infrastructure, and offers carbon credit advantages.

“It is more than a road; it is an economic corridor and a catalyst for regional growth.”

According to the minister, 30 kilometres of Section 1 have already been completed, with an additional 10 kilometres in Section 2 nearing delivery. Both segments feature six-lane concrete-paved carriageways, designed to meet modern standards for safety and durability.

Umahi further revealed that construction had commenced on Sections 3 and 3B of the highway, spanning a total of 65 kilometres, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom.

He described the positive response from local communities as a clear indication of the project’s wide-reaching socioeconomic benefits.

“Just days ago, we flagged off Sections 3 and 3B—65 kilometres in total, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom. The host communities’ excitement speaks to these projects’ transformative impact,” he said.

Umahi also highlighted the administration’s renewed focus on the Sokoto-Badagry superhighway, which he noted was part of a broader vision dating back to colonial-era trade plans.

“The Trans-Saharan trade route dates back to colonial-era planning. President Tinubu is now bringing these long-abandoned visions to life,” the minister explained.


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Kaspersky Uncovers Dero Crypto Miner Spreading via Exposed Container Environments

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Kaspersky Security Services experts have identified a sophisticated cyberattack campaign targeting containerized environments to deploy a miner for the Dero cryptocurrency.

The attackers abuse exposed Docker APIs — parts of Docker, an open-source container development platform. In 2025, there are a significant number of Docker API default ports that are insecurely published, accounting for almost 500 occurrences worldwide on average each month.

In the discovered campaign, cybercriminals inject two types of malwares into the compromised systems: one is the miner itself and the other is a propagation malware that can spread the campaign to other insecure container networks.

Kaspersky experts discovered this malicious campaign as part of a compromise assessment project. According to expert estimates, any organisation that operates containerized infrastructure — while exposing Docker APIs without robust security controls — can be a potential target. These may include technology companies, software development firms, hosting providers, cloud service providers and more enterprises.

According to Shodan, in 2025, there are 485 published Docker API default ports¹ worldwide each month on average. This figure illustrates the campaign’s potential attack surface by tallying the “entry points” — or insecurely exposed ports that attackers might target.

Once attackers identify an insecurely published Docker API, they either compromise existing containers or create new malicious ones based on a legitimate standard Ubuntu image. They then inject two malware types into the compromised containers: “nginx” and “cloud”.

The latter is a Dero cryptocurrency miner, while “nginx” is a malicious software that maintains persistence, ensures execution of the miner and scans for other exposed environments. This malware allows attackers to operate without traditional Command-and-Control (C2) servers; instead, each infected container independently scans the Internet and can spread the miner to new targets.

“The campaign has the potential for exponential growth of infections, with each compromised container acting as a new source of attack, if security measures are not immediately put in place in the potentially targeted networks,” explains Amged Wageh, an incident response and a compromise assessment expert at Kaspersky Security Services.

“Сontainers are foundational to software development, deployment, and scalability. Their widespread use across cloud-native environments, DevOps, and microservices architectures makes them an attractive target for cyber attackers. This growing reliance demands organisations adopt a 360-degree approach to security — combining robust security solutions with proactive threat hunting and regular compromise assessments”.

The attackers embedded the names “nginx” and “cloud” directly in the binary — an inflexible executable file composed of instructions and data for the processor, not for humans. This is a classic masquerading tactic that lets the payload pose as a legitimate tool, trying to deceive both analysts and automated defenses.


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Manager, Others Arraigned for Allegedly Hacking into Premium Trust Bank’s Server

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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, charged five defendants before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into the server of Premium Trust Bank.

Manager, Others Arraigned for Allegedly Hacking into Premium Trust Bank’s Server

The defendants are listed as the bank’s e-payment service manager, Matthew Adeniyi; Kehinde Odeyemi, a nursing mother; Samson Latshin, Bolaji Omotosho and Sunday Okunnola.

They were charged before Justice Alexander Owoeye, on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, cybercrime and unlawful access to the bank’s database.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Mrs. Zeenat Atiku, prosecutor, alleged that they committed the offence between April and May this year, in collaboration with three others, now at large.

Those still at large are Isa Ismaila, Victor Joshua, also known as ‘Oracle’ as well as one other, simply identified as Humble.

According to the charge, the first defendant unlawfully disclosed sensitive credentials, including the bank’s server IP and domain details, to these parties.

She said this enabled an unauthorised access to the bank’s database and the consequent data breach allegedly resulted in financial gains of $10,000.

The prosecutor also alleged that the defendants attempted to intercept the bank’s network and procured a Hewlett-Packard ProBook 440 G9 laptop (serial No. SN#5CD2473N6G) configured to bypass the bank’s security systems.

The anti-graft agency said the alleged offences contravened the provisions of sections 12(1)(b), 27, 28(1)(b)(c) and 28(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024).

Following their pleas, the prosecutor, requested for a trial date and sought an order to remand the defendants in custody.

Meanwhile, the court declined an oral bail by the defence counsel and directed that a formal bail application be filed.

He adjourned the case until June 30, for trial and ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Nigerian correctional centre, pending bail.

The court, however, added that the defence may apply for an earlier trial date, upon filing their bail applications.

 


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