E-Business
Govts., MDAs Register on .ng, Host Servers Abroad
Federal government’s directive to its ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to register their website on the country’s top level domain name .ng by the end of this year has recorded some level of success, but regrettably their web and emails servers are hosted outside of the country, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
Investigations revealed that most federal government MDAs and state governments are currently hosting their web and email servers outside of the country, which makes mockery of the aim of the directive to register on .ng.
It was gathered that just recently, Lagos state government which previously hosted its web and email servers in the country had to relocate it to a foreign country, citing trust issues as reason.
It would be recalled that federal government gave state governments’ ministries and parastatals as well as local governments in the country till August this year to register their websites on the country’s top level domain name .ng,
To meet the deadline, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is collaborating with Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) to ensure a smooth migration for the states and local governments.
And for the federal government ministries, departments and agencies compliance to the directive, a steering committee was set up under the supervision of head of service of the federation with Galaxy Backbone, the federal government registrar for the migration, to work out modalities for the migration.
Stakeholder in the information and communications technology have frowned at this development arguing that such action is retrogressive to development of ICT sector in the country.
Mohammed Rudman, managing director, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) said that the implication of such action is that email exchange among staff of those ministries or departments are not private as it will have to leave the country to the country where the server is hosted and in the process could be tapped by agents of the government of the country.
He added that it also encourages capital flight as cost of such service will be paid in foreign currency; as well as create employment for foreigners at the expense of Nigerians.
“More so, if by any means there is cut or tsunami that damages undersea cable that provides connectivity between the host network and the ministry or agency, staff cannot communicate through the email,” he said.
It was learnt that presently, there are several Data centres in the country that have attended international certification that can host web and email servers for governments, ministries and departments thereby creating employment and encourage local companies for the development of the country.
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.
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.
Nigeria recently launched a new joint case team to step up its response to cybercrimes that affect people and businesses at home and abroad.
The ‘Joint Case Team on Cybercrime’ brings together Nigeria’s key justice and security agencies to work as one, making it easier to detect, investigate, and prosecute digital offences.
It is supported by the UK National Crime Agency, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, as part of a wider effort to promote international cooperation on cybercrime.
Speaking at the launch in Abuja, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, minister of justice and attorney general of the federation described the initiative as “a bold and transformative stride in Nigeria’s justice system.”
He said that although Nigeria has a national legal framework to address cyber offences, laws alone are not enough.
Nigeria is among the countries most affected by cybercrime around the world, with increasing financial losses.
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