Technology
FBNQuest Advises Firms What to do to Manage Rising Cyber-Attacks
By Adedapo Adesanya
As Africa faces the threat of rising cybercrimes, FBNQuest, through its Thought Leadership medium, has called on the need to recognise the strategic importance of managing companies’ security infrastructure.
In a note made available to Business Post, it stated that organisations of all sizes should be looking at what to do when (not if) they are hit by cyber-attacks.
Cybercrime is estimated to cost Africa $4 billion a year (a figure that hits $450 billion worldwide), broken down into yearly losses of $570 million, $500 million, and $36 million for the economies of South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya, respectively.
Drawing real-life parallels, in early October 2020, Uganda’s telecoms and banking sectors were plunged into a crisis in the wake of a major hack on Pegasus Technologies that compromised the country’s mobile money network.
Hackers used approximately 2,000 mobile SIM cards to gain access to the system, and an estimated $3.2 million was stolen.
In June 2020, the second-largest hospital operator in South Africa, Life Healthcare, was hit by a cyberattack in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, paralysing the 6,500-bed provider and forcing it to switch to manual backup systems.
As per the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), the most prominent threats in Africa, based on input from Interpol member countries and data drawn from private sector partners, identified that the top five threats listed in the report include online scams, digital extortion, email account compromise, ransomware, and botnets.
FBNQuest noted that “the current international threat landscape is incredibly diverse and includes a resurgence of bored teenagers who hack just for the fun of it, nation-state groups, and cybercriminal syndicates and gangs. For the latter groups, the operational objective is to leverage a new exploit to extort millions and achieve an extraordinary return on investment.”
It then tasked organisations to apply the fundamentals of cybersecurity that will offer protection. This includes tightening the email loop, which makes it difficult to fall for phishing attacks.
Others include fending off malicious ransomware, securing network access, shutting down internal threats, solidifying storage and backups, as well as managing vulnerabilities, noting that, “The key to successful vulnerability management is to identify all the ways an attacker can move throughout your network and reach your business-critical assets. Once you have identified these attack paths, you can focus on locking down chokepoints and stopping hackers before they even get started.”
It also tasked parties to ensure that a detailed Incident Response Plan (IRP) is put in place.
“Cyberattacks may be inevitable, but a detailed Incident Response Plan (IRP) provides both a buffer and an antidote if the plan is tested. This means that the first time to verify an IRP is not in the middle of a crisis.
“The best way to determine whether the company’s IRP is effective is through tests that assess the readiness of their incident response teams. These tests, which work for all-size companies, come in the form of fire drills and tabletop exercises (TTXs). Each test serves a different purpose.”
The company noted that while cyber-security has been largely associated with computers and IT infrastructure, greater consumer use of smart devices has raised overall vulnerability. At the enterprise level, shifting to cloud computing may have cut company costs significantly, but it has also increased the risk of digital attacks.
“Despite the broad-based implications of these risks, many businesses are unprepared to deal with them, as the alarming number of threats clearly indicates. These developments imply that security is no longer merely a concern of IT managers, but a key boardroom topic because enterprises need to recognise its strategic importance. Companies need to beef up their security infrastructure to prevent breaches while simultaneously building a sustained organisational culture of safety,” it warned.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has set 2028 and 2029 as the timeline for the deployment of its new satellites, NIGCOMSAT-2A and 2B, respectively.
The Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, which is Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and the premier satellite operator in Nigeria, Mrs Jane Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, disclosed this at the second Nigerian Satellite Week in Abuja on Monday. She noted that the development is expected to boost military intelligence, surveillance, and regional connectivity.
“For 2A and 2B, we have started the process. We have closed the tender and are now back into the financing and implementation stage. 2A is built to come up in 2028, and 2B for 2029.
“When they are up and running, they are expected to provide security within the borders and neighbouring countries. They will support the security agencies because data collection and intelligence in real time is important. Satellites like communication satellites allow that, irrespective of where they are,” she said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, said the satellites form part of the nation’s strategy to strengthen digital infrastructure.
Mr Tijani explained that the satellites will complement ongoing investments in 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable and nearly 4,000 telecom towers, which are being rolled out nationwide and extended to neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Republic of Benin.
He stressed that satellite technology is critical for national development, affecting education, agriculture, business, and emergency response.
“The president’s approval of NIGCOMSAT-2A and 2B demonstrates a clear commitment to building the future. These satellites will enhance security, connect remote communities, and extend our fibre-optic network into neighbouring countries,” he said.
“Some of these neighbouring countries pay up to ten times more for internet capacity than Lagos. Extending our fibre network will not only improve connectivity but also enhance border security and regional collaboration.
“Satellite technology affects everything, from how a child in a rural community accesses the internet to how farmers make critical decisions and how businesses operate across distance,” the Minister said.
Also speaking, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, welcomed the development, saying the military will leverage the satellites for operational efficiency.
“The Nigerian Army will continue to use space assets to improve intelligence gathering, surveillance, and operational coordination across all theatres of operation,” he said at the event, represented by Major General Kennedy Osemwegie, Commander of the Nigerian Army Cyber Warfare Command (NACWC).
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A partnership to advance digital payments and financial inclusion across East Africa has been strengthened between Interswitch and KCB Group.
Both parties have agreed to expand digital payment infrastructure and deliver innovative financial solutions that meet the evolving needs of individuals, businesses, and institutions across the region.
The aim is to accelerate seamless, secure, and inclusive digital payments in East Africa, where the leading Africa-focused integrated payments and digital commerce enabler, Interswitch, recently announced an expansion of Verve card acceptance footprint, leveraging its consolidated partnership with KCB Group, Kenya’s largest financial services group by assets, following a similar move in Uganda through the local KCB Franchise in February 2022.
During a recent executive engagement at KCB Group headquarters in Nairobi, the chief executive of Interswitch, Mr Mitchell Elegbe, held high-level discussions with KCB leadership, including its chief executive, Paul Russo.
At the core of the strengthened collaboration is the integration of Interswitch’s robust payment rails, card scheme, and emerging digital token solutions with KCB Group’s expansive regional footprint and trusted banking franchise.
This integration enables the acceptance of Verve cards and tokenised payment solutions across KCB’s extensive merchant point-of-sale network in Kenya and Uganda, significantly enhancing everyday usability for customers while strengthening KCB’s digitally driven retail payments offering.
The consolidated partnership is expected to drive increased merchant acquisition, improve interoperability across payment ecosystems, and expand access to secure, cashless transactions. It also reinforces both organisations’ shared objective of deepening financial inclusion and accelerating digital commerce across East Africa.
“Our collaboration with KCB Group represents a powerful alignment of vision and capability. By combining our technology-driven payment solutions with KCB’s strong regional presence, we are unlocking new opportunities to scale access, drive innovation, and deliver greater value to customers across East Africa,” Mr Elegbe stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to provide compensation to subscribers whose network quality of service experience is below specified targets within specific locations.
In a Sunday statement, the commission noted that its position is that customers should not be made to bear the full burden of service disruptions where operators fail to meet prescribed standards of service delivery.
Under this directive, NCC said erring operators would compensate affected users directly for breaches of Quality of Service (QoS) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will be required to pay these compensations for instances of poor quality of service recorded within specified time frames.
“The compensation will be provided in the form of airtime credits, calculated based on subscribers’ average spending patterns and their presence within Local Government Areas where service failures occur”, according to the statement.
The directive is rooted in the agency’s broader regulatory philosophy that places the consumer at the centre of Nigeria’s telecommunications ecosystem.
“Telecommunications services today underpin economic activity, social interaction, and access to digital opportunities. When service quality is poor, the consequences affect productivity, commercial activities, and even public confidence in our communications system.
“While regulatory fines have traditionally served as a deterrent against poor service delivery, the Commission is adopting a more consumer-focused approach that strengthens accountability within the industry”.
The commission explained that it has designed this measure to complement existing and ongoing efforts to strengthen service quality monitoring and enforce performance standards.
Further to this directive by the commission to MNOs on compensation to consumers, the regulator has mandated Tower Companies that own the critical infrastructure, such as masts, for Quality of Service delivery, to invest in infrastructure with measurable outcomes using sums that it has fined these companies, in addition to other financial fines the Commission will deem appropriate.
“The commission will continue to reinforce the obligation of operators to invest consistently in network resilience, capacity expansion, and infrastructure upgrades to meet the growing demand for telecommunications services.
“At the same time, it will deploy regulatory tools that promote fairness, transparency, and accountability across the sector, ensuring that every subscriber receives the quality of service they deserve while sustaining a telecommunications industry capable of powering Nigeria’s digital future”, the statement added.
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