Fearful Balkanisation of Nigeria’s Internet, Data Sovereignty

About just anybody from anywhere can peep into Nigeria’s cyberspace, meaning that some sensitive national data are not free from foreign surveillance, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has leant.

Experts in data sovereignty which describes different state behaviours towards data generated in or passing through national internet infrastructure have therefore called for urgent actions.

The recent cyber attack on JP Morgan Chase that compromised the personal information of 76 million households is just one of the few reported in a slew of security breaches that have plagued some of the nations, most trusted institutions and individuals. 

Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, Mr. Olusola Teniola, chief executive officer, Internet Solutions, a division of Dimension Data, said that both the government and private corporation must change the approach on how software are delivered in the country, adding that sensitive data security is the currency nations use to gain sovereignty in the cyber space. 

Teniola, said that, basically, there two areas government must tackle to safeguard the nation’s intelligence (memories).

“There are two aspects I think that we need to look at. One is local content. I think that if we really do not have our software and intellectual property owned and built by Nigerians we will leave the door open for foreigners to build it and create avenues for them to sneak in. It is a national security issue

Teniola said, “Secondly, we must ensure that the cyber Bill gets pushed through, so we can have a framework that we can we build on; companies can use it while thinking about software, whether local or foreign. This will help create a standard too. We can’t continue with the rogue, substandard pieces of access given to us, with doors open for foreigners to come through and masquerade themselves as if they are Nigerian scammers.   

On his part, Mr. Rock Adote, a cyber security analyst, believes that the local software developers have important role to play in addressing the challenge.

He said, “The major issue is that people focus on developing without confirming the security aspects of the software they use; this even push users going outside the country to buy software.

“For instance, some government websites are running on web management system called Koala. Koala just released a new version of their security offering that encourages all their users to endorse. Koala is one of the most vulnerable content management systems in the world.

The experts agreed that if the Government were to start considering critical areas to focus on as regards cyber attaches, the web cannot be an exemption.

They said that, the country needs to develop a system that can enable local developers build web applications in such a way that from now till next year the applications can remain relevant and stand the test of time; underneath is, understanding the evaluation.