Reign of Unarmed but Lethal Cyber Criminals

Nigeria, Africa’s largest telecom market by investment and subscription has also earned notoriety as cybercrime haven.

Cyber crime refers to illegal activities that take place online, including fraud, spam, identity theft, computer viruses and worms, cyber stalking, drug trafficking, sexual predators, malware or spyware, phishing schemes and the like.

Cyber crimes have continued to thrive in Nigeria because of the unguarded nature of the country’s internet topology that allows people to get access from just anywhere in the world.

The bad after taste of cybercrime and the unseriousness of Nigeria to address the monster has continued to haunt the country both economically and social-politically.

But as the government fret over the consequences, reports say that Nigeria has the highest number of cybercrime incidents in Africa and is right behind the U.S. and the U.K. – which have larger populations.

And as more Nigerians use the Internet for their banking needs, the number of fraudsters eyeing people’s bank accounts and online financial transactions has also multiplied.

The United Nations Office on drugs and crimes estimated that Nigeria has lost millions of dollars through cyber crime.

Reliable estimates are hard to come by but a study by a study by Paradigm Shift Initiative Nigeria (PIN) ─ a social enterprise committed to connecting Nigerian youths with ICT opportunities established that Nigerian consumers lost a total of N1.246trn to cybercrime in 2012.

Experts said that there is a likely nexus between cyber crime and a variety of other threats including; cyber terrorism; industrial espionage; and foreign intelligence services.

In Nigeria effective deterrents to cyber crime are not known; available; or accessible law enforcement personnel, many of whom underestimate the scope and severity of the problem.

Checking cyber crime is not rocket science or extreme engineering; it basically starts with proper definition of Nigeria’s internet topology.

There is need for government to shore up its IT literacy because it is widely believed that cybercrime thrives because government and its enforcement authorities lack IT knowledge to tackle the menace.

The government should also be willing to increase her cybersecurity budget like other countries that have made spending in that her area their largest chunks.

Importantly, federal government and federal lawmakers to ensure the quick passage of the harmonised 2011 Cyber Security Bill because all the required ingredients to fight cyber crime are encapsulated in the all important document.

Government should also strengthen its recently launched Computer Crime Prosecution Unit (CCPU) to prosecute those involved in cyber crimes.