E-Business
FireEye Spots $20Bn Hole in IT Security Defenses
Traditional security is no match for today’s advanced targeted attacks aimed at stealing company’s sensitive data and intellectual property said FireEye, a leader in next generation threat protection, stopping advanced malware, zero-day, and targeted APT attacks that bypass traditional defenses.
In other words, attacks and malware are skyrocketing heralding an era that IT security threats have become increasingly complex, sophisticated and targeted, conducted over multiple threat vectors in combination and no organization is immune.
According to FireEye, although companies spend over $20 billion a year on next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, anti-virus, and gateways, yet still fall prey to APTs using sophisticated tactics, including advanced malware and zero-day exploits.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek recalled that Total Defense, also a global leader in malware detection and anti-crimeware solutions had reported that the AV-TEST Institute states that it now registers more than 200,000 new malicious programmes every day, with almost 100 million malicious programs seen in 2012—a number that has been increasing every year.
At the same time, the world is becoming increasingly interactive and collaborative, with real time communication among employees, customers and partners, using whatever device come to hand.
“Relying on traditional security measures to catch the bad guy in action or prevent being the victim of a breach doesn’t cut it in today’s threat landscape, and IT teams don’t have the time and resources to address each threat vector in isolation, nor should they have to. Integration, automation and flexibility are today’s security commandments maximizing resource and workforce efficiency and effectiveness without worrying the finance department,” Total Defense found.
Thus, FireEye reported to have developed a solution that plugs the hole that cybercriminals are using to infiltrate networks and steal data; exposes the entire cyber-attack lifecycle from initial exploit to data exfiltration and stops multi-vector attacks with a signature-less, real-time, integrated solution that can detect unknown threats across multiple threat vectors
The Company also reported that ninety-five percent of enterprises and government agencies have already been compromised.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek also recalled that a certain hacker has been on the neck of the Federal Government of Nigeria, compromising the nation’s official website and other government agencies’ websites.
Just as the Federal Ministry of Information at the weekend said it has regained control of the nation’s official website ‘Nigeria.gov.ng’ after it was hacked by a group of gay activists, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek learnt that as at Monday, the cyber terrorist was threatening to unleash further terror on the site.
The national web portal was allegedly hacked by an Irish hacker who is angered by Nigeria’s stance on homosexuality. The act was an attempt to coerce President Goodluck Jonathan to veto a bill seeking to jail homosexuals.
In a statement signed by Joseph Mutah, press secretary to the Information minister on Friday, the ministry revealed that the same group was responsible for recent attacks on other countries’ official websites.
The attack, the ministry said, was meant as blackmail to pressure these countries into legalising gay activities.
Mutah stated that the Information Ministry is stepping up security on the web portal to prevent future attacks while liaising with security agencies to investigate the security breach.
He admonished those seeking to impose gay rights in the country to legally and constitutionally express their opinions as the Nigerian government will not condone any violation of the law in the name of activism.
Meanwhile, ‘Paddy Hack’, an Irish hacker who claimed responsibility for the attack on Nigeria’s official government threatened more attacks this week.
“A torrent of fury will be unleashed on Nigeria’s government due to the unfair and unjust treatment of homosexuals in their country,” the hacker threatened in a notice on @PaddyHack, the hacker’s handle on social media website Twitter.
But federal ministry of Information said additional measures have been implemented in a bid to stem future attacks by hackers.
Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.
The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.
The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.
In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.
“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.
Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.
“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.
He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework. He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.
According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.
Earlier in her opening remarks, Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.
Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.
“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”
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