E-Business
Cyberoam Extends Its Layer-8 Technology Innovation with UTQ
Cyberoam, a leading global provider of network security appliances has introduced a unique capability – User Threat Quotient (UTQ).
This is expected to help IT security managers identify users posing security risks with ease. With UTQ, Cyberoam extends its own innovation of Layer-8 technology and turns over a new leaf in user-identity focused security.
Available on Cyberoam’s Next-Generation Firewall and UTM appliances, UTQ harnesses information derived out of user’s web traffic to determine risky users that pose security and /or legal risks.
Studies have proved that users are the weakest link in the security chain and patterns of human behavior can be used to predict and prevent attacks.
Speaking on the innovation, Mr. Abhilash Sonwane, senior vice president, Products and Technology, Cyberoam said, “Enterprise networks generate lots of data with ample clues into user-triggered events, but the information remains incomprehensible and correlating data from various logs and reports takes time and special skills, and is subject to the risk of human oversight.”
Given this scenario, a security manager wishing for a science fiction-like capability to preempt and mitigate threats shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The ongoing paradigm shift towards pre-emptive security shares some signs of such capabilities.
Many organizations and security managers are leveraging big data analytics tools to capture early signs of specific user actions or network event patterns that may hint at a possible ongoing attack or anomaly.
Commenting further, Mr. Sonwane added, “Most security teams struggle with timely detection of risk-prone user behaviour since they remain devoid of required actionable security data.
User Threat Quotient (UTQ) from Cyberoam effortlessly profiles suspicious web behavior of network users, helping security teams with actionable inputs and relieving them from having to go through a labyrinth of massive logs.”
The User Threat Quotient (UTQ) studies the web behavior of users by analyzing massive data of allowed and denied web traffic for web categories like IP Address, P2P, Phishing and Fraud, Porn, Spam URL, Spyware, URL Translation Sites and more that pose security and legal risks.
The User Threat Quotient helps CSOs / IT security managers by spotting risky users based on their web behavior at a glance without manual efforts; removing complexity in analyzing terabytes of logs to identify suspicious or risk-prone user behavior and eliminating the need for SMBs to invest in separate SIEM tools to spot risky users.
Others are enabling investigation into the spread of risk within the network and facilitating corrective actions to fine-tune user policies.
Winds of change in IT and network security clearly indicate a growing need to focus on internal threats or risks from users.
As a result, many CXOs now identify analytics and actionable security as a key investment area besides cloud, virtualization and mobility, to leverage security analysis that enable faster decision making.
Extending its own innovation of Layer-8 identity-security with UTQ, Cyberoam continues to bridge the gaps where many security paradigms fall short in combating insider threats and user-triggered risks.
Cyberoam Technologies, a Sophos Company, is a global Network Security appliances provider, offering future-ready security solutions to physical and virtual networks in organizations with its Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) and Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances.
The virtual and hardware Cyberoam Central Console appliances offer Centralized Security Management options to organizations, while Cyberoam iView allows intelligent logging and reporting with one-of-their-kind, in-depth reports.
Cyberoam is accredited with prestigious global standards and certifications like EAL4+, CheckMark UTM Level 5 Certification, ICSA Labs, IPv6 Gold logo, and is a member of the Virtual Private Network Consortium.
E-Business
Galaxy Backbone, Rural Electrification Agency Commit to Deepening Digital and Energy Access Across Nigeria

In a major step towards deepening Nigeria’s digital and energy infrastructure, Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a brief but impactful ceremony held in Abuja.
The MoU signals a collaborative effort between both agencies to enhance Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda by integrating reliable energy solutions with cutting-edge ICT infrastructure, especially in higher institutions, Government institutions, underserved and rural communities across the country.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju, described the partnership as “a landmark moment in Nigeria’s journey towards a digitally empowered, sustainably powered, and inclusively connected nation.”
“This partnership exemplifies what is possible when two visionary government institutions come together, united by shared goals and driven by the desire to improve the lives of Nigerians everywhere,” he said.
Professor Adeyanju emphasized that while Galaxy Backbone’s core mandate is to provide secure digital infrastructure that powers government operations, reliable and sustainable energy particularly in rural areas is essential to fully actualize digital transformation.
Major highlights of the MoU include:
- Solar electrification of some of GBB’s Metro Fibre sites in Abuja by the REA.
- Powering Hostels of Higher Institutions across the country through the Fibre to Hostel Project being driven by the Federal Ministry of Communications Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE).
- Support for the rollout of the 774 Local Government Digitization Initiative, beginning with six pilot Local Government Areas.
- Provision of LANs, access points, cloud services, colocation infrastructure, and temporary connectivity to enhance REA’s operational facilities nationwide.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency Mr Abba Aliyu, in his remarks, expressed optimism that this collaboration will further bridge the digital and energy divide across Nigeria. He noted that by combining REA’s achievements in expanding energy access with GBB’s robust ICT backbone, both agencies are poised to create lasting impact across governance, education, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.
This partnership is also in direct alignment with the Renewed Hope Digital Transformation Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which envisions an inclusive digital economy powered by innovation and sustainable energy.
The ceremony was attended by top management from both organizations as well as members of the media.
With today’s signing, Galaxy Backbone and the Rural Electrification Agency have set the tone for stronger, smarter, and more inclusive public service delivery powered by strategic inter-agency collaboration.
E-Business
NIMC Says NIN Services Back Online

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced the restoration of its National Identification Number (NIN) verification services nationwide.
This, according to the commission, follows the completion of a system maintenance exercise.
In a statement issued on Friday, the NIMC confirmed that all previously disrupted services have resumed.
“NIMC wishes to inform the general public that the recent technical maintenance has been completed and all services have been restored,” the statement read.
The NIMC urged Nigerians seeking to enroll for NIN to visit the its official website to locate the nearest enrollment centers.
The agency also encouraged individuals to make use of its self-service portal for tasks such as data modification, including name changes.
To further ease the verification process, the Commission recommended downloading the NIMC NameAuth app (oath.app) from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store for quick and secure NIN authentication.
NIMC expressed appreciation for the public’s patience during the service disruption, which had impacted banks, telecom providers, and government agencies that rely on NIN verification for their operations.
E-Business
Report Reveals African Organizations Dangerously Overestimating Cyber defences

Many businesses are overestimating their defence against cyber attacks, which creates a significant human risk blind spot. A new KnowBe4 report exposes a worrying disconnect between what leaders think about their cyber security readiness and what employees experience.
According to the KnowBe4 Africa Human Risk Management Report 2025, based on insights from cyber security decision-makers across 30 African countries, despite high awareness, a critical gap exists in turning that awareness into actual readiness and resilient behaviour.
Key findings from the KnowBe4 Africa Human Risk Management Report 2025:
Confidence vs awareness: While cyber security awareness is high, leaders express uncertainty about their workforce’s ability to act on that awareness. Many feel employees may overestimate their capabilities in recognising, reporting and mitigating threats.
The need for adaptive and personalised security awareness training: Many companies fail to personalise security awareness training to specific roles or risk exposures.
Widespread BYOD usage: A large percentage of employees (between 41% and 80%) use their personal devices for work.
AI policy development is lagging: Many companies (46%) are still in the process of developing policies for using AI tools in the workplace.
Regional variation: Southern Africa trains more, East Africa governs AI better and West/Central Africa sees the most human-related security incidents.
This gap is significant because Africa has become an attractive target to cyber criminals, especially those that launch AI-powered attacks. A LexisNexis Risk Solutions study found 60% of South African organisations have seen an increase in AI-facilitated financial crime – above the 56% global average.
Kehinde Popoola, regional manager and key representative for West and East Africa at Rubrik, said digital transformation is gaining momentum in Africa and companies are more exposed to cyber risk. The Rubrik executive adds that amid an increase in threats, it is crucial that organisations adopt an assumed breach mindset.
The KnowBe4 research shows that cyber security preparedness and the actual structures required to support secure behaviour seem misaligned.
The report highlights that just 10% of cyber security leaders are fully confident that staff would report a phishing attack or other cyber threat, despite rating employee security awareness of cyber threats at four out of five or higher.
There is also a significant perception gap between decision-makers and general employees in Africa regarding security awareness training, with 68% of leaders believing that training is tailored to roles, compared to only a third of employees feeling adequately trained.
KnowBe4 asserts that many organisations only conduct annual or biannual training that is too generic to effectively change behaviour, contributing to uncertainty about its effectiveness.
According to another report, the KnowBe4 African Cybersecurity and Awareness Report 2025, which focuses on end-user based responses, only 43% of African respondents felt confident in their ability to recognise a cyber threat, and just one in three believed their security awareness training was adequately tailored to their role. This comparison suggests the development of a dangerous perception gap in many organisations.
“There’s a disconnect here – between what leaders think is happening and what employees are actually experiencing,” says Anna Collard, SVP content strategy and evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa. “The data shows that without procedural and cultural follow-through, awareness simply doesn’t translate into readiness.”
“The continent’s cyber security posture may be more confident than it is truly resilient,” Collard adds.
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