By 
By Oluwatobi Opusunju
The Managing Director of FPG Technologies and Solutions Ltd, Mr. Rex Mafiana has raised alarm over the low level of attention paid cyber security in Nigeria. Mafiana who was speaking recently in Lagos on the sidelines of the company’s fifth year anniversary noted that with the low level of attention to cyber security, Nigeria’s internet gateway is susceptible to attacks.
An Internet gateway is a network node that connects two different networks that use different protocols (rules) for communicating with firewalls to avoid unwanted traffic from foreign sources.
According to him, cyber-attack is a global issue which poses a threat to both businesses and the country’s entire internet gateway and as such, more efforts need to be directed to addressing and preventing the infiltration of cyber con men.
“Our internet gateway in this country is obviously vulnerable and the top leadership in different organizations seems not to understand the implications of cyber-attacks,” a concerned Mafiana said.
He argued that as cyber-attacks are increasingly on the rise and pose a major risk to businesses, organizations must find appropriate solutions to mitigate the menace, rather than playing ostrich.
If organizations understand that cyber-attacks could have a huge negative implication on their businesses, they will start taking the necessary measures in terms of financial investments and governance structure, said Mafiana.
“Top managements are not paying attention to technology and now cyber security. This is an issue that should be discussed at the board level because that is where the right measures and support structures can come from to fight against cyber-attacks,” Mafiana added.
According to the Nigeria Cyber Security Report 2017, more than N237 billion is deemed to have been lost by Nigerian banks to cyber fraud since 2007.
Explaining what it means for Nigeria’s internet gateway to be vulnerable, he said Nigeria is getting attacks from Algeria, Venezuela and several other countries as con men make a persistent go at the country’s cyber presence because of the vulnerability and loopholes with little or no firewalls to protect the country’s internet gateway.
The limitation in terms of understanding and the knowledge of cyber security at the top level is affecting the proper attention that ought to be given to the issue. For this, Mafiana fears that without greater attention on safeguarding Nigeria’s cyber space, critical national infrastructures risk being crippled by cyber attackers.
Government and business organizations must invest in countering cyber-attacks in order to ensure national security of citizens and businesses in the country, said the technology expert.
FPG, a member of Flexip Group, is a technology solutions provider and systems integrator. The Lagos based company specializes in delivering innovative IT consulting, IT security, cloud, mobility, and infrastructure solutions.
