The Cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has revealed in a report that Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) received the most cyber-attacks in 2022.
The report titled ‘Nigeria Cyber Threat Landscape 2022’ was presented during a two-day conference of the group in Abuja.
NAN reports that the study sheds light on trends in cyber-attacks in 2022 and could provide insights into occurrences in 2022.
Data on cyber-attacks on SMEs
According to the report, phishing attacks on SMEs increased by 87% in 2022 compared to 37% in 2021.
The Director of Research and Development of the group Mr. John Odumesi said there was a spike in corporate phishing attacks in 2022 and data protection policies and disclosures were lagging.
- In his words, “Part of the findings and key threat trends we discovered is that data protection policies enforcement and disclosure practices are grossly lagging; there is a surge in corporate phishing attacks.
- “There is a rise of ransomware in the industrial control system environment, compromise of business emails, and malware such as Backdoor skyrocketed.”
What business owners can do to protect themselves from cyber-attacks
On how organizations can protect themselves from cyber-attacks, Mr. Odumesi noted that individuals and organizations need to have a detailed cyber-security policy and an incident response plan.
- He said, “To combat cyber-attacks, we need to maintain a detailed cyber security policy; individuals and organizations should be email skeptic; organizations should develop an incident response plan.
- “We also need to protect our systems, travel wisely on the internet, avoid password pitfalls, and engage the services of Cyber security experts,”
Mr. Odumesi noted that the study surveyed over 552 participants and also collated reports from online media and other cyber security reports.
Also speaking during the conference was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CyberSoc Africa, Mr Yaniv Ovitz, who noted that there was general progress in combating cyber-crimes especially in the fintech space from 2019 but efforts nosedived because of talent loss due to the ‘japa syndrome.’
Role of relevant stakeholders in combating cybercrimes
The territory manager of Sophos West Africa, Mr. Jimi Falaiye noted cyber security is a continuous exercise and perfection cannot be achieved.
- In his words, “Cyber security ecosystem is a dynamic environment, so we have threat actors; these are the bad guys who are investing a lot in launching their attacks.
- “Meanwhile, from the internal, it is usually reactive for most organizations, and it has formed an imbalance in the system.
- “The good guys in organizations are trying to catch up with what the bad guys are doing, which should be on the contrary,”
Statistics on Cybercrime in 2021
Nigerian businesses have been battling cyber threats of various kinds in recent times.
According to Sophos- a cyber security firm reported by Nairametrics, 71% of Nigerian firms were hit with ransomware in 2021.
They also reported that Nigerian businesses paid as much as $706,452 as ransom to cyber-criminals in 2021.