Security Threats: Audit Chiefs Urged to Strengthen Cyber, Climate Resilience

Oluchi Chibuzor 

The Chairperson of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), Aina Amah, has called on Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) to be at the cutting edge of emerging digital innovation to guard against emerging cyber security threats while strengthening climate resilience in line with global standards.

This according to her is because the rapid pace of digital innovation is being matched by an equally aggressive rise in cyber-criminality with an urgent need for digital readiness within the auditing space.

Amah made the call at the Association’s Annual Retreat/Conference and General Meeting which was held in Lagos recently, themed, ‘Navigating Future Technology and Governance Risks in the Nigerian Financial Sector’.

Speaking on the urgency on the subject, she said: “In the last three years, the trend of digital innovation has been on the increase and digital innovation comes with attendant risks. At ACAEBIN, we feel it is time to bring our members together to take decisive actions to address and mitigate the risk of these innovations we are having in our ecosystem.

“Now, auditors have to be advisors to the businesses, to make sure risks do not crystallize and to ensure problems do not even exist in the first place. We have to be at the cutting edge of every technological advancement, know what it is, understand the dynamics and how it affects our ecosystem. That way, we can rightly advise the players in the industry, the e-business team, and the technology team.” 

On her part, Partner, Risk Advisor at Deloitte Nigeria, Ibukun Beecroft, noted that with increasing global focus on Climate Sustainability and as auditors at the forefront of risk mitigation, it behoves CAEs to “strengthen ESG expertise, integrate ESG to risk assessment, enhance ESG data governance and also prepare for ESG assurance.” 

Meanwhile, Associate Director, Technology Risk at KPMG, Chukwuemeke Igabari, harped on the importance of quality data in driving efficiency within the internal audit space. According to him, without quality data, auditors cannot automate their processes