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*NSA directs sensitisation of law enforcement agencies
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
In a bid to contain cyber crimes and its impact on information and security infrastructure, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), has directed additional cybersecurity sensitisation for law enforcement agencies and relevant government agencies even as he launched cybersecurity toolkits for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) aimed at protecting MSMEs from cyber threats.
The directive was issued at the end of the 9th Cybercrime Advisory Council meeting held Thursday, March 31, 2022, which updated members on activities and events since the 8th Meeting of the Council in compliance with the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) 2021 and the provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015.
A statement by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said the council was briefed on the protection plan for critical national information infrastructure.”Council was briefed on measures to protect telecommunications assets and ongoing efforts to sensitise state governments on emerging threats. “Council was further informed of two workshops conducted on critical national information infrastructure protection in collaboration with the United Kingdom FCDO and a capacity building workshop held from 31 January-1 February 2022 on the development of a national cybersecurity risk assessment”, said.
The statement signed the Head, Strategic Communication,Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakaria Usman, said members of the council were informed of the “ongoing gap analysis to identify capacity deficit amongst relevant law enforcement agencies pursuant to the Cybercrimes Act 2015 to guide future capacity building efforts. “The council was briefed on the successful completion of seven sector-based sensitisation workshops by the Office of the National Security Adviser between September – December 2021 and informed stakeholders of two additional sector-based sensitisation workshops on the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy for critical organisations scheduled between May-June 2022”.
The statement further affirmed that the “Cybercrime Advisory Council was also briefed on the launching of cybersecurity toolkits for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by ONSA in collaboration with United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) aimed at protecting MSMEs from cyber threats. “The pilot launch of the toolkit in February 2022 was conducted with over 200 SMEs in attendance while the main launch of the toolkit is scheduled for April 5, 2022.
The council was further informed that the toolkits will be available for use to protect online activities of over 41 million MSMEs that operate in Nigeria”.On Protection Plan for critical national information infrastructure, the council was briefed on “measures to protect telecommunications assets and ongoing efforts to sensitise state governments on emerging threats”.
“As part of measures to address emerging cyber threats heightened by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, ngCERT has increased its routine monitoring activities and advisories to relevant stakeholders and held sectoral computer security incidents response teams meeting on March 29, 2022, to facilitate incident management coordination, enhance reporting and strengthen information sharing mechanism.
The meeting received several reports from sub-committees and the council also approved the establishment of a committee to facilitate the amendment of the Cybercrime Act 2015. The National Security Adviser emphasised the need for collaboration, capacity building, information sharing to ensure a safe and resilient cyber ecosystem for Nigeria.
