Cyber Criminals and Trails of Blood, Sweat & Tears

Cyber criminals unarmed but very lethal are the prowl in Nigeria. The unchecked activities of these thieves are near plague. The threat from cyber crime is multi-dimensional, targeting citizens, businesses, and governments at a rapidly growing rate.

Cyber criminal tools pose a direct threat to security and play an increasingly important role in facilitating most forms of organised crime and terrorism.

The bad after taste of cybercrime and the unseriousness of Nigeria to address the monster has continued to haunt the country both economically and social-politically.

Cybercrime has led to confidence problems with Nigeria losing outsourcing, foreign investment among others.

Investigations showed that the army of unemployed youth is the major perpetrators of cyber crimes in the country.

They hide under the anonymity of the internet and mobile phones to perpetuate atrocities which has earned Nigeria notoriety as haven of cybercrime.

The absence of adequate infrastructure, lack of awareness and general weakness of regulation has only served to exacerbate the menace.

Reliable estimates are hard to come by but a study by a study by Paradigm Shift Initiative Nigeria (PIN) ─ a social enterprise committed to connecting Nigerian youths with ICT opportunities established that Nigerian consumers lost a total of N1.246trn to cybercrime in 2012.

The impact of Cyber Crime and Cyber Security is so colossal that it has the capability of wiping out developmental gains of Nigeria and retarding her growth fortunes by many decades, in terms of Gross Domestic Product, if proper steps are not taken.

By all indication, the Nigerian government is not ready to fight this menace.

For instance, Nigerian government cannot prosecute computer hackers yet, because of non-existent laws.

Checking cyber crime is not rocket science or extreme engineering; it basically starts with proper definition of Nigeria’s internet topology.

Nigeria also needs to strengthen her regulatory authority or set up a special arm to respond to security issues.

Importantly, there is need for government to shore up its IT literacy because it is widely believed that cybercrime thrives because government and its enforcement authorities lack IT knowledge to tackle the menace.

The government should also be willing to increase her cybersecurity budget like other countries that have made spending in that her area their largest chunks.

Importantly, federal government and federal lawmakers to ensure the quick passage of the harmonised 2011 Cyber Security Bill because all the required ingredients to fight cyber crime are encapsulated in the all important document.