‘Nigeria’s financial loss to cyber-crimes above N127bn annually’

The annual financial loss recorded by Nigeria as a result of cyber-crimes may have increased above N127 billion, the Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu has said.

Mr Shittu, who spoke yesterday at a cyber-security programme organised in Abuja by Cyber security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), said Nigeria was losing 0.08 of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to cybercrimes and the grip figure might have risen because a large number of incidents remain undetected or unreported.

“Available statistics put the cost of cybercrime globally at over $700 billion per year, and it is projected to rise to about $2trillion by 2019, due to the rapid digitization of consumer lives and company records, number of incidents in 2016 grew by 38 % as against the number reported in 2015”, he said.

The minister said though cybercrime was the price the world had to pay for embracing technology; experts should nevertheless take steps towards securing the cyberspace.

He lamented the shortage of cyber security experts in Nigeria, warning this could expose the country to cyber danger.

He however said his ministry and Office of the National Security Adviser were already implementing the provisions in the Cybercrime Act 2015 to curtail the menace of cybercrimes.

But speaking later with journalists on the sideline of the programme, the President of CSEAN, Remi Afon said to reduce cybercrime, the government should enact a data protection regulation which makes it compulsory on all organisations to put in place strong data protection strategy.

The WannaCry attacks has shown that no country has got the capacity to fully protect itself from cyberattack, he added.

He advised the government to prioritise it efforts and raise cyber security awareness across the country.