Expert: Cyber Threats Evolving Faster Than Firms Can Keep Up

 Omolabake Fasogbon

Nigeria’s accelerating digital shift is exposing businesses and institutions to a fast-changing cyber threat landscape that outpaces businesses’ preparedness. 

This, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Quomodo Systems Africa, Oluwole Asalu, was raising fresh concerns about the resilience of the systems underpinning the economy.

Asalu referred to recent cyber incidents befalling financial platforms, government-linked systems and organisations across sectors, noting a disconnect between the speed of threats and firms’ capacity to respond 

He remarked that Nigeria no longer contends with isolated cyber events but a sustained pattern of pressure targeting systems that support economic activities.

He noted further that current surge of attacks is driven by  artificial intelligence (AI)  enabling malicious actors to deploy tools capable of learning from existing defences, adapt in real time and executing attacks at scale with minimal human input.

“The implication is a shift from predictable, manual cyber threats to dynamic and intelligent systems that can probe vulnerabilities and evolve rapidly”, he said.

In light of emerging threats, Asalu cautioned organizations to be proactive by anticipating, withstanding , and recovering from increasingly adaptive threats.

He said that from history, firms are guilty of often treating cybersecurity as a back-end technical function that is being addressed only after breaches occur.

He argued this approach is no longer tenable in a digital economy where trust, operational continuity, and institutional credibility depend on secure systems.

“Cybersecurity underpins every payment, digital identity verification, and public service delivered through technology,” he said, stressing that system failures now carry far-reaching economic and reputational consequences.

Asalu warned that traditional security approaches built around static defences such as firewalls and routine patching are becoming insufficient against modern threats that exploit human behaviour, mimic legitimate activity and move swiftly across networks.

He added that the foregoing underscores why businesses must transition towards predictive and intelligence-led defence models that are anchored on advanced analytics, machine learning and automated response systems.

He proposed AI-driven defence amidst rising digital threats across sectors, affirming its strengths in detecting anomalies, flagging coordinated attack patterns, and maintaining operational continuity in real time.

“Cybersecurity investment must move from discretionary spending to a core operational priority. Institutions must strive to meet defined standards in monitoring, recovery readiness and workforce training.

“For best results, Nigeria must develop indigenous expertise in AI security and cyber engineering. It must be deliberate about reducing reliance on imported solutions that may not fully address local risks”, he advised.