Emma Okonji
The fight against cybercrime in Nigeria has achieved a major milestone with the local launch of Certum, the first security certification authority with a direct presence in Nigeria. Cybercrime has progressed from websites being hacked and users’ data being stolen to sophisticated criminality targeting companies, particularly financial institutions, ecommerce sites, government agencies among others.
Explaining how to address cybercrime activities, the company’s Business Development Manager, Mr. Peter Uka, said everyone is vulnerable today and it is only a matter of time before one falls prey to these undesirable elements.
According to him, “Certum is a globally recognised Certificate Authority owned by the Asseco Group, which has a direct presence in Nigeria through Asseco Nigeria with offices in Lagos and Abuja. Certum provides cryptographic trust and security products such as secure socket layer (SSL / TLS ) certificates, email encryption certificates (S-MIME technology), code signing certificates and electronic signature products. These technologies are needed to secure websites and encrypt email and document communication – protecting information from getting to the wrong hands.â€
The important benefits of a local certificate authority are onsite support, extremely fast verifications on higher end SSL certificates used by financial institutions and all transactions in naira and not in foreign currencies.
According to Uka, “Being present locally gives the advantage of being able to carry out company/documents validation faster such that the certificates are issued significantly quicker than with Certification Authorities based abroad. We undertake the highest end of certification within three days, while international authorities can take months.”
He said Certum CA meets the strictest European and international quality standards for trust and encryption products, and that the solution has been certified by WebTrustTM for Certification Authorities.
Managing Director, Asseco Nigeria, Mr. Adefolu Majekodunmi, explained that cyber threats are on the increase and advised organisations to adopt the right technology solutions to protect downtime in business.
“Most organisations do not attach importance to security solutions. They want to be hacked before they take the necessary steps, and this is not good for a growing business,†Majekodunmi said.
Speaking on interoperability, he said the solution has 99 per cent interoperability level and could operate with existing technology.
