Nigeria global cyber-crime hit $9.3b annually

Cyber-crime originating from Nigeria costs about $9.3 billion annually across the globe, President, Cyber Security Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), Mr. Remi Afon has said.‎

In a statement Thursday in Abuja on the planned launch of CSEAN Lagos and award of certificates to new members of the association, Afo

n stated that activities of the cyber criminals have integrated from phishing emails to “actual exploit through malware.”

According to him, though there were no available statistics on volume of malware being generated from the country but “based on research by Palo Alto Networks in 2014 and fire eye 2015, activities of cyber criminals in Nigeria is now shifting from phishing emails to actual exploit through malware.

“It is estimated by Dutch investigation firm Ultrascan that Nigeria-based cybercrime is costing around $9.3 billion (£5.5bn) globally each year.”

However, he lauded efforts of the Federal Government to combating the menace.

“Cyber crime became rampant in Nigeria due to lack of appropriate cyber crime law in the past. The cyber crime bill has now been passed into law around mid of this year. With the new cyber crime law, it will become easier for law enforcement agents to prosecute cyber criminals unlike in the past,” he said.

The bill introduced on July 28, 2011, was targeted to check activities of internet scammers, who had projected the country negatively, both locally and internationally.

However, Afon emphasised need to better equip law enforcement agencies with the necessary skills and tools to be able to apprehend and prosecute cyber criminals.

He called for more investment in cyber security, adding that bank customers are continuously targeted with email requests purportedly from banks in order to steal customers’ login details.

“The cybercrime bill has now been passed into law. With the new cybercrime law, it will become easier for law enforcement agents to prosecute cyber criminals unlike in the past.

“In most cases it would be observed that the banks emails are not spoofed which shows the amateurish level of the cyber criminals. By simply expanding the senders email address, the yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail account of the sender becomes visible,” he added.