Nigeria may lose over N150bn to cyber-attacks this year – Official

Unless proactive actions are taken to prevent the impending cyber-attacks on the country, Nigeria may lose over N150 billion to cyber-criminals this year, a top official has said.

The National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) had last week warned of impending cyberattacks on the country this year.

Speaking with Daily Trust yesterday, the top government official who is also an expert in cyber security said if hackers or the cyber criminals succeeded in launching the attacks, financial institutions, multinationals and many MDAs in the country may have their data taken over and at least N150bn may be lost.

The official, who pleaded anonymity because he was not cleared to talk to the media on the issue, added that apart from monetary loss, documents and data may also be seized and damaged by the criminals.

According to him, a total of about 3,500 cyber-attacks were launched on the country in 2017, 75% of which were successful, which led to a loss of about $500 million.

The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, said the prevalence of electronic commerce and online malls was giving cybercriminals opportunity to attack unsuspecting Nigerians.

He lamented the shortage of cyber security experts, warning it exposed the country to cyber danger.