E-Business
Experts Carpet Govt for Wasting Billions on Biometric Registration

ICT experts have criticised the ongoing biometric registration and similar exercises being planned by federal government agencies, according to the Leadership Newspaper
They said it is a waste of resources, as government should have, instead, cooperated with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to build a central national biometric database that can serve the needs of all.
Engineer Lanre Ajayi and Professor David Adewumi, presidents of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and the Nigerian Computer Society respectively described the proliferation of biometric database systems in the country as wasteful and unfortunate.
Engineer Ajayi noted that, in the past three years, eight biometric registration exercises have been contemplated with some already at the level of execution while others are still on the drawing board. Agencies involved in this
include the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), NIMC and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Others are the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Population Commission (NPC), and the “Banks Verification Number” (BVN) being implemented by Nigerian banks with government funding. There is also the “Nigerian Police Biometrics Central Motor Registry” (PoliceBCMR), which was recently suspended by the National Assembly.
The Police BCRMR is similar to that of the FRSC that requires vehicle owners to pay N3, 500 each in order to be captured on the system.
In the telecom sector, NCC in 2011budgeted N6.1 billion and awarded contracts to seven consultants to conduct biometric registration on telephone users’ subscriber identification module (SIM) cards in the six geopolitical zones of the country in addition to Lagos.
The companies were: SW Global (south-east), PNN (north-central), Chams (Lagos), JKK (south-west), DATAGROUPIT (north-east), EAGLE/CBC (north-west), and E-Kenneth/SageMetrics (south-south).
According to the Leadership , mobile phone operators who were also mandated by NCC to start registering all phone users on their networks were taken aback when the regulator awarded the contract to the seven firms to duplicate the same thing.
The biometric simcard registration which dragged for several months ended with NCC using simcard database from mobile operators.
Already, INEC and NPC are planning their own biometric registrations towards the 2015 general elections and 2016 national census.
In the financial sector, by the end of this May, the Nigerian deposit money banks (DMBs) will begin biometric registration of all bank account holders; it will cost $50 million (N7.79bn) from the apex bank’s purse.
The contract which was awarded to a German company, Dermalog, a manufacturer of automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS), will see the banks conclude the registrations in 18 months.
Engineer Ajayi said: “All these agencies doing multiple registrations are wasting public funds. NIMC is the most appropriate government agency to do it. With NIMC there wouldn’t be need for NCC to even conduct its simcard biometric registration because once you are captured in NIMC database, your phone number is already there.”
Already, the government has approved N30.066 billion for NIMC as part of a three-year funding for the accelerated implementation of the back-end component of the “National Identity Management System” (NIMS). NIMC has the responsibility to provide all Nigerians and residents with National Identification Number (NIN) and multipurpose biometric card which can be used both as a social security number and bank card.
Professor Adewumi said, “There is need for us to harmonise. All these biometric registrations we are doing, there is no way we can get meaningful results if capacity building is not properly addressed.”
He urged government to cooperate with IT professionals in project planning and implementation instead of leaving it in the hands of foreign consultants who are there for the money.
Another leading expert in the ICT sector said, “Government can save a lot of money by eliminating duplication of biometrics registrations. What Nigerians need is one all-in one biometrics registration. But when about seven agencies of government in one country are trying to capture biometrics data on one person, it is a waste of scarce resources.”
E-Business
Firm Reports a 48% Increase in Malicious Packages Threatening Software Supply Chains

Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts at the 10th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2025 held recently, talked about supply chain attacks and reported that by the end of 2024 a total of 14,000 malicious packages were found in open-source projects, a 48% increase compared to the end of 2023. 42 million versions of open-source packages have been examined by Kaspersky throughout 2024 in search for vulnerabilities.
Open-source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Popular open-source packages include GoMod, Maven, NuGet, npm, PyPI, and others.
These are tools that power countless applications and help developers easily find, install, and manage pre-built code libraries, making it simpler to build software by reusing code others have written. Attackers take advantage of the popularity of these and other packages.
In March 2025, the Lazarus Group was reported to have deployed several malicious npm packages, which were downloaded multiple times before removal. These packages contained malware to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data, and deploy backdoors, targeting developers’ systems across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The attack leveraged GitHub repositories for added legitimacy, highlighting the group’s sophisticated supply chain tactics. Kaspersky’s GReAT also found other npm packages related to this attack. Malicious npm packages could have been integrated into web development, cryptocurrency platforms, and enterprise software, risking widespread data theft and financial losses.
In 2024, a sophisticated backdoor was discovered in XZ Utils versions 5.6.0 and 5.6.1, a widely used compression library in Linux distributions. Inserted by a trusted contributor, the malicious code targeted SSH servers, enabling remote command execution and threatening countless systems globally.
Detected before widespread exploitation due to performance anomalies, the incident highlighted the dangers of supply chain attacks. XZ Utils is integral to operating systems, cloud servers, and IoT devices, making its compromise a threat to critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.
In 2024, Kaspersky’s GReAT discovered that attackers uploaded malicious Python packages like chatgpt-python and chatgpt-wrapper to PyPI, mimicking legitimate tools for interacting with ChatGPT APIs.
These packages, designed to steal credentials and deploy backdoors, capitalised on the popularity of AI development to trick developers into downloading them. These packages could have been used in AI development, chatbot integrations, and data analytics platforms, endangering sensitive AI workflows and user data.
“Open-source software is the backbone of many modern solutions, but its openness is being weaponised. The 50% rise in malicious packages by the end of 2024 shows attackers are actively embedding sophisticated backdoors and data stealers in popular packages, which millions rely on.
“Without rigorous vetting and real-time monitoring, a single compromised package can trigger a global breach. Organisations need to secure the supply chain before the next XZ Utils-level attack succeeds,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Research Center for Russia and CIS at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.
E-Business
NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched an investigation into allegations that the confidentiality and integrity of candidates’ personal data may have been compromised by hackers.
The Commission initiated the inquiry following concerns over possible data breaches during examinations.
Preliminary findings indicate that several examination centres may not have implemented adequate technical and organizational measures to safeguard candidates’ personal information, as required under data protection regulations.
Although the incident reportedly affected 379, 997 candidates, the NDPC’s investigation is poised to cover a systemic audit of data processing and third parties.
It will be recalled that JAMB recently admitted that a technical error on its platform affected a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
Further investigation led to the arrest of at least 20 suspects who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force.
E-Business
Nigeria Among Hotspots as Kaspersky Warns of Rising Ransomware Threat in Africa

Cyber security firm, Kaspersky, has once again warned that sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target Africa as ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs) escalate across the region.
Speaking at the company’s annual Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region, the cybersecurity firm’s Global Research and Analysis Team highlighted growing digital threats affecting African nations.
Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa emerged as hotspots, with Kenya recording one of the highest web threat incident rates at 20.1% in first quarter 2025.
“While ransomware is less prevalent in Africa due to lower levels of digitisation and economic constraints, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are seeing a sharp rise in attacks,” said Sergey Lozhkin, head of META and APAC regions at Kaspersky.
Kaspersky noted a 0.01 percentage point increase in African ransomware cases year-on-year, reaching 0.41%, still below global and Middle Eastern averages, but a troubling sign for the continent’s emerging digital infrastructure.
Experts warned that attackers are refining their tactics, shifting focus to unconventional entry points like IoT devices, smart appliances, and misconfigured hardware.
“As these economies expand digitally, sectors such as manufacturing, finance and government are becoming key targets,” said Lozhkin
The cyber-crime landscape is evolving quickly, fuelled by AI tools and dark web access to large language models, which enable less skilled actors to launch convincing phishing and malware campaigns.
Groups like FunkSec, which uses AI-generated code and a low-cost ransom model, are redefining ransomware operations.
“African organisations face the dual challenge of expanding digital footprints and limited cybersecurity awareness. This makes layered defense strategies, including network segmentation, real-time monitoring and regular staff training, essential,” stated Lozhkin
Kaspersky continues to monitor 25 active APT groups in the META region, including SideWinder and MuddyWater, some of which are known to target African institutions.
To bolster defenses, the firm recommends using tools such as its free Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business and the Kaspersky Next suite for threat visibility and response.
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