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| Eco Bank MD, Patrick Akinwuntan. |
The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan has advocated the use of artificial intelligence to predict security threats and proffer solutions. Akinwuntan who made this assertion at a webinar themed, “Cyber threat Landscape: Financial services, 2021 and beyond.”organised by Information Security Society of Africa, Nigeria (ISSAN) on Tuesday, said as cyber-attacks continue to grow in intensity and frequency, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a game changer, stressing that the manual and semi-automated techniques of monitoring and responding to systems issues of the past are grossly inadequate to take care of the risk of the future.
He regretted the renewed cyber attacks on
businesses globally occasioned by new technology and Covid 19 pandemic,
“Technology has evolved and has changed the way we operate. Covid 19 only
further accelerated the adoption of technology. Artificial intelligence,
automation, internet have all created the opportunities for business to unlock
more values, but cyber threats have also increased both in complexity and
volume,” adding that “The new normal of working from home has further exposed
institutions to cyber-attacks and data breaches. Endpoints for remote access
must be secured or else institutions are exposed to attack by mismanaged
endpoint. There is also the aspect of insider threat and exposure of password
Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability,
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, who was represented by the
Director of Information Technology (IT) at CBN, Mrs. Rakiya Mohammed said the
conversation around cyber threat could not be more important than now, stressing
that the apex bank was committed to strengthening the security framework of
financial institutions to prevent the proliferation of such threats. She noted
that “The financial sector is particularly susceptibility to cybercrime,
given its crucial roles in financial intermediation in a highly connected
financial system. CBN is committed to strengthening its regulatory and
supervisory framework for cyber risk and vulnerability testing for the banking
sector.”
In his presentation, US -based Cyber Security
expert, Dr. Austen Ohwobote advised that as the pace of digital disruption
accelerates and innovative new technology reach the market, organizations
should put measures in place to check cyber crimes. He listed the
different cyber-attacks such as web-based attack, third party attack, insider
threats attacks, and advised organisations to put resilient structures in place
in order to understand the nature of attacks and when attacks are about to
happen.
For financial institutions to adequately check
cyber crimes, he called on organisations to adapt and implement cyber security
as a guide, recognise cyber security as big issue, appoint cyber security
ambassadors, raise customer awareness, emphasize strong password and
Multi-Factor Authorization (MFA), adding that cyber security expert should be a
member of decision making and re-emphasize third party vendor management.
ISSAN President, David Isiavwe, called on
financial service providers and other organisations that handle large data of
customers, to consider putting the right measures in place in order to
safeguard their operations. He stated that the advocacy group will
continue to create cybersecurity awareness and data handling.
ISSAN is a not-for-profit organization
dedicated to the protection of Nigeria’s cyberspace. It is also significantly
involved in ensuring the security of Banking Systems and applications, ATMs,
e-government systems and the entire cyberspace in Nigeria. It operates through
awareness heightening measures including the promotion of appropriate
legislation and best practices. ISSAN has proved to be a veritable platform for
collaboration and exchange of ideas by members of the Banking and e-commerce
public especially with regard to safekeeping of PINS, controls over passwords,
access to the internet as well as steps organizations should take to keep their
systems healthy and safe at all times.
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