E-Business
Fraud in IPv4 Market Calls for Extra Precautions from Sellers, Buyers

American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) last month won a critical legal case which set a precedent against IPv4 address fraud.
The verdict determined that ARIN was defrauded of approximately 735.000 IPv4 addresses by an individual who used 11 shelf companies to do so. The perpetrator was ordered to return the fraudulently obtained resources and cover $350.000 of legal fees.
As the prices of IPv4 addresses are rising due to exhausting supplies, this case might be the first one of more to come. Meanwhile, the emerging second-hand IPv4 market creates opportunities for both transparent IPv4 brokers and fraudsters alike.
“The current state of the IPv4 market urges IP address buyers to be aware of their IPv4 supplier’s reputation. Reputable companies don’t take abuse control lightly to protect the assets they are leasing. The seller must guarantee the legitimate origin of their supply and the buyer must not use the assets in illicit ways,” said Vincentas Grinius, CEO of Heficed, an IP address-centric company offering IP address, cloud, and dedicated server solutions.
There are several reasons why fraud in the IPv4 market is not an isolated occurrence, but rather a symptom of a more complicated problem.
As of today, the only regional internet registry with IPv4 resources available in its pool is the African regional registry (AFRINIC). The remaining registries have run out of free resources at different times in the past decade, with ARIN reaching this crucial point in 2015. What this means for the internet is that the only way to obtain an IPv4 address is to lease it in the second-hand market.
“As with every resource in high demand and low supply, various legal and illegal practices are being deployed to obtain and resell IPv4s. At Heficed, we have various abuse prevention processes in place to make sure the resources we obtain and lease do not contribute to any fraudulent scheme,” commented Grinius.
However, with the IPv4 second-hand market still scattered across a number of IP address brokers and the need for a transparent global solution to this problem unmet, there are precautions a lessee should keep in mind when obtaining IP addresses from a broker.
„Everyone interested in leasing IPv4 addresses should invest time and investigate the broker they are about to trust. Apart from various tools available to check the history of a given IP address, the customer should also consider the reliability of the broker by answering these questions: how long is the company in business? What are other clients saying about the company? Reputation is paramount in the IP address industry,“ finished Grinius.
With fraudsters actively leeching upon public internet resources, both the sellers and the buyers ought to invest extra effort in minimizing the risks connected to IP address abuse of different kinds.
E-Business
Human Hacking: When Cyber Criminals Target You

By Nancy Werteen
When you get anti-hacking advice, you’ve probably heard “Don’t use a simple password,” or “Don’t plug in that USB you found on the ground.”
But there’s one form of hacking that doesn’t always require a computer, and it costs businesses about 4.88 million dollars a year.
Modern hackers aren’t trying to get into your computer; they’re trying to get into you.
“They’ll try to learn about you a little bit, and they’ll try to use that information against you to try to get you to complete some action, maybe to send somebody some money,” said Kevin Moran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster, University of Central Florida.
IBM calls this human hacking, because it exploits human error instead of system error.
“With people just being busy and maybe not very carefully checking some of the emails or the phone calls that they get, can be something unfortunately that people can fall victim to,” said Moran.
Also known as social engineering, this often takes the form of phishing, where the hacker tries to “fish” the information out of you by impersonating family, friends, or even your bank.
There’s also baiting, where the hacker baits you with something of value. Remember the Nigerian prince scam?
That’s a famous example of baiting. There’s also pretexting, where the hacker will claim the victim has already been hacked, and that the hacker can fix it if you just send over your passwords. So, what can you do?
“Just as a rule of thumb, instead of clicking on links and emails, just go to the website yourself. And that will prevent, a lot of these types of attacks from happening,” explained Moran.
Phishing can take many forms.
Spear phishing targets people with access to confidential information, often to get access into an entire business, and whale phishing targets CEOs or political figures.
Search engine phishing is when hackers create fake websites promising services or goods you’ll never receive.
Angler phishing is when hackers create fake social media accounts impersonating famous people or companies.
Finally, vishing and smishing is phishing done through phone calls and texts respectively.
E-Business
FG Enrolls 59,786 Inmates on NIN Platform

Federal government has said that it has successfully captured 59,786 inmates, representing approximately 74 percent of the total prison population into the National Identity Number (NIN) database.
This figure is based on a total of 80,879 inmates across 256 custodial centres across the country.
Abubakar Umar, spokesman, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Deputy Controller of Corrections, who made this disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, dismissed recent media reports alleging that the NIN registration had yet to begin in custodial centres.
Umar described such report as misleading, inaccurate, and not representative of the current situation.
According to Umar, the NIN registration exercise within the correctional facilities was ongoing and has achieved substantial progress.
He credited the achievement to collaboration between the NCoS and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which has enabled successful enrollment of majority of inmates into the national identity database.
According to him, “As of June 7, 2025, a total of 59,786 inmates, roughly 74 percent cent of the total inmate population have been captured on the NIMC platform,” Umar said.
“Efforts are ongoing to register the remaining inmates, and necessary mechanisms have been established to ensure the seamless completion of the process.”
He emphasised that the assertion that NIN registration has not started in custodial centres was factually incorrect and overlooks the extensive work already carried out.
The Service reaffirmed its commitment to integrating all inmates into national data systems, including NIN registration, as part of broader efforts to support rehabilitation, reintegration, and digital inclusion for individuals in custody.
Umar also urged media outlets to confirm their information with appropriate authorities before publication to prevent the spread of misinformation that could undermine the Service’s progress and public understanding.
E-Business
NIMC Denies Blocking Police Commission from Verification Server

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has clarified that all its verification service platforms remain fully functional and accessible to all authorized partners, including security agencies.

Abisoye Coker-Odusote, DG, NIMC
In a statement on Thursday, the Commission firmly denied claims that it had denied the Police Service Commission (PSC) access to its verification server.
Dr. Kayode Adegoke, head of Corporate Communications, NIMC, described the reported “inability of the Police Service Commission to access the NIMC verification server” as misleading and inaccurate.
He suggested that any challenges faced by the PSC may be due to internal issues within the commission itself, not from NIMC’s end.
The statement reads: “To set the record straight, the NIMC granted verification access to all Nigerian Police formations for the verification of the National Identification Number (NIN). The NPF, PSC and other security agencies have been enjoying uninterrupted verification services for over five years.
“NIMC has provided top-notch verification services for recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force, as conducted by the PSC and at no time have there been any complaints or issues regarding NIN Verification by the NPF or PSC.
“The Commission has a robust and harmonious working relationship with the Nigerian Police Force and the Police Service Commission. The Information Communications and Technology (ICT) department of the Nigeria Police Force is actively managing the long-standing verification and integration service between the NIMC and all Nigeria Police formations.Entertainment tourism packages
“NIMC will continue to provide flawless verification services for the purpose of recruitment, security mapping, cybercrime control, and any other security matters.
“The framework by which NIMC provides services to the security agencies was recently restructured for standardization and effective implementation, following consultation with the Office of the National Security Adviser, and NPF has confirmed the verification services have continued to be available. We therefore believe that any service interruption experienced by PSC may be due to internal matters.
“NIMC is committed to providing excellent verification services to the PSC, NPF and all its partners but the terms and conditions inherent must be adhered to for uninterrupted flow of service.”
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