Dizengoff West Africa (Nigeria) Limited has partnered Castlenet Consulting Limited to propagate proactive measures to curb cybercrime menace using the Paloalto technology.
The Sales, Channel, Networks and Cybersecurity Manager at Dizengoff, Akanna Iweka, who disclosed this in Lagos, said it was about time Nigeria leveraged on proactive technologies rather than reactive security to fight cybercrime.
According to Iweka, Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy which puts it on the radar for cyberattacks, meaning that the country must stay ahead of cyber criminals.
“This campaign is to educate businesses and the public about cyber security situations in Nigeria, the risks out there and measures to deal with these risks.
“To also highlight how everybody can leverage on the technologies we have on the Paloalto networks. It is important that people understand the risks out there and how to protect themselves against it, especially businesses.
“Right now, as we advance in technology, we become more vulnerable, people need to understand this and know how to meet up with the challenges associated with it.
“In 2017, Nigeria was estimated to have lost about $450 million to cybercrimes.
“The idea is to stay ahead of the cyber criminals. We do not wait until it happens, that is why we want to change the mentality of people from being reactive to being proactive to the menace of cybercrime,” he said.
Iweka added that Dizengoff will only associate itself with quality, which was why the firm is distributing Paloalto Networks brand.
He further noted that though the financial institutions are mostly affected by cybercrimes, all other sectors are culpable and assured Nigerians that financial institutions are strictly compelled to adhere to CBN regulations to secure online financial transactions.
He said: “Paloalto is bringing innovation, while anticipating the trends and patterns and staying ahead of the curve so that when these threats come in, you already have measures in place to put them in check.
“The truth is, all the sectors are affected by cybercrime because you have sensitive data everywhere, but we have seen more reports from the financial sector maybe.
“Due to the mere fact that you have mostly online activities, the financial sector is being regulated and they have regulations they must adhere to.
“For example, payment card industry data security standards (PCIDSS), if you store, transfer or have card details you must comply with these security standards which the Nigerian banks comply with otherwise you will not be able to do business,” Iweka said.
The Pre-Sales Lead of Castlenet Consulting, Jennifer Ibrahim, said the firm is ensuring that people begin to take preventive measures to protect themselves rather than waiting for attacks to happen.
Ibrahim said that cyber criminals have become more elusive and it is high time Nigerians deal with the issues with available technologies.
“With the increasing attacks on organisations, most of them have taken it upon themselves to design several mitigating factors to ensure that as the threat grows, they also pre-empt them.
“There are companies doing their research to check the increase of cybercrime for our safety. From our relationship with our clients and research, we know that CBN also enforces certain rules, she added.’’
Digital and Corporate Communications Executive, Castlenet, Ashley Asomugha, said that the campaign is to curb clients cyber threats through door-to-door visits, while enlightening them.
Asomugha said: “We are starting with this campaign because the world is becoming more global with businesses online and we engage in door-to-door visits to client, enlightening them. We can curb the threat through proactive measures,” she said.
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