Cyber security experts have articulated areas of focus for organizations and government agencies in their efforts to protect their networks against cyber- attacks this year, as the country awaits the signing into law of the cyber security bill recently passed by the National Assembly.
Oluseyi Akindeinde, chief technical officer, Digital Encode, urged government to set up cyber security operating centres that will protect national critical infrastructure networks.
According to him, the centres will serve as surveillance system that will monitor activities on the networks of tier 2 internet service providers that bring internet into the country including; undersea cable infrastructure and satellite networks as well as the country’s top level domain name the .ng network.
“This has become necessary in view of the recent cyber-attack of Sony network in USA. We also need to train people that will work in these centres to ensure it achieves the desired result,” he noted.
He added that organizations such as banks and telecom operators among others also need to establish their cyber security operating centre that will monitor their networks against hackers as well as electronic fraud he describe as internal collision to commit fraud in those organizations.
Tobechi Ndubuaku, chief operating officer, Tobeit Consulting, organizers of annual Hackcess conference, advises organizations to fortify their networks with cyber security software that gives them the required protection.
“There are some networks that have the kind of ‘Buffer’ against hacking. In some network they are exposed to hackers for not been strong, there is need for such organizations to build their infrastructure with the right security network against hacking. This is not something you build and you relax, you will need to keep updating the software, the end-point of this is to be five steps ahead of hackers,” he stated.
Ndubuaku also stressed the need to encourage security conferences in the country, according to him it is in such conferences that directions of activities of hackers are exposed and ways to address it are proffered.
He applauded the passage of national cybercrime bill 2014, noting that when it is signed into law it will empower EFCC to effectively prosecute cybercrime in the country.
Chris Uwaje, former president, Institute Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) and advocate of cyber security had warned that cyber terrorism is real and must be taken serious.
Uwaje called for the setting up of “ethical hackers” to protect networks by hacking and stealing vital information and later returning them to show their vulnerability.