Ways to Stem Cybercrime

 Cyber criminals unarmed but very lethal are the prowl in Nigeria. The unchecked activities of these thieves are near plague.
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.
Cybercrime has led to confidence problems with Nigeria losing outsourcing, foreign investment among others.
Investigations showed that the army of unemployed youth are the major perpetrators of cyber crimes in the country.
They hide under the anonymity of the internet and mobile phones to perpetuate atrocities which has earned Nigeria notoriety as haven of cybercrime.
The absence of adequate infrastructure, lack of awareness and general weakness of regulation has only served to exacerbate the menace.
At least count, Nigeria financial institutions lost some N7.3billion last year to cyber thieves while losses are at global level are staggering.
The impact of Cyber Crime and Cyber Security is so colossal that it has the capability of wiping out developmental gains of a nation and retarding her growth fortunes by many decades, in terms of Gross Domestic Product, if proper steps are not taken.
Luckily, the Senate arm of the National Assembly has woken albeit reluctantly with a mission to update its cybercrime and cybersecurity strategies aimed at ensuring that Nigeria becomes a cyber crime free zone.
The first step is the Senate Committee on Communications plan to organize a national workshop on cyber crime prevention and control next month.
According to Sylvester Anyawu, chairman, Senate Committee on Communication “Nigeria, with about 95 per cent of her ICT infrastructure built on wireless model, can be classified as highly vulnerable to the emerging menace of cyber crime and cyber insecurity and the Senate is prepared to ensure that the nation does not become a hostage to cybercrime at all levels.”
This is why a national workshop on cyber crime prevention and control has become a time-critical assignment and indeed a strategic imperative, aimed at addressing the critical and emerging challenges in the nation’s cyberspace”, he said.
Beyond that, Nigeria must as matter of urgency define her internet topology, strengthen her regulatory authority or set up a special arm to respond to security issues.
Importantly, 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.
Ideas like Nigeria Internetworld Conference and Exhibition (NICE) seen as one of the sure ways to reduce the incidence of cyber crime, rebrand and empower Nigerians especially with the latest opportunities that the Internet provides in areas of business, education, governance, communication, medicine and agriculture.