Stakeholders Urge FG to Review Cybercrime Law

Cybercrime stakeholders have urged federal government to update the existing cybercrime law to take care of new technological developments as well as approaches adopted by the cybercriminals.

They spoke at Cyber Secure Nigeria 2018 conference organized by Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) with the theme: ‘Mitigating Cyber Threats in the Digital Age’.

Remi Afon, president, CSEAN, said that Cybercrime is dynamic and changes from time to time.

“When the cybercrime law was passed a few years ago, there was no mention of cyptocurrency. A lot of cyber criminals were not in the dark web. So, there is a need for cybercrime laws to keep changing to keep pace with the activities in cyberspace,” he said.

He added that Nigeria is vulnerable in the cyberspace. “A lot of our information is online these days. Even the government has started connecting their system online.

“The only way we can tackle this problem is to have a strong legislation, which will make organizations to be compelled to make sure their assets are secured, and whenever there is a breach, there also is a notification.

“Many cybercrime activities are taking place in Nigeria on a daily basis, but because they are not reported, nobody notices them,” he said.

He decried inaction of federal government on data protection law. According to him, ‘It is quite unfortunate that the government is so slow about the data protection law.

“They are not doing anything about it at the moment. There is a need to have a data protection law as a matter of urgency. Otherwise, it is not going to be a crime for anybody to compromise other people’s data.

“We have cybercrime laws, but there is a need to make sure organizations are held accountable if data in their possession are compromised. It is the responsibility of government to have the law in place. Our own responsibility is to sensitize the citizens.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) enumerated challenges in cybercrime management in the country which include; absence of comprehensive and reliable demographic and biometric database, insufficient expertise in the area of cyber and information security; and lack of effective and functional forensics laboratories among others to match the speed, anonymity and fleeting nature of evidence in cybercrimes investigation.

Danbatta who was represented by Mr. Henry Ojiokpota, zonal controller, NCC in Lagos, noted concerns in tackling electronic fraud/ cybercrimes in technology-driven environments such as appropriate legal frameworks, new technologies and standards, critical national security imperatives among others.

John Bray, consul general, US Embassy in Nigeria, said that as the world embraces the Internet of Things, big data, cloud and mobility, security must be more than an afterthought.

“However, things change quickly in the realm of cybersecurity. With new threats appearing on a daily basis and attackers continuously refining their techniques, it can be extremely difficult to keep up.

“Businesses and government agencies need to evolve in order to cope with the ever changing threat landscape. Organizations can no longer merely react to threats, they need to create IT infrastructure that is agile and adaptive, where breaches are addressed before they happen,” he said.