Technology
NITDA to Overhaul Outdated Cybersecurity Intervention Frameworks
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is working to overhaul outdated frameworks that are limiting cybersecurity interventions in Nigeria.
The NITDA Deputy Director, Cybersecurity Department, Mr Ayodele Bakare, said this on the sidelines of the agency’s meeting with some United Kingdom (UK) delegates on building a national cybersecurity infrastructure in Abuja on Friday.
Mr Bakare noted that cybersecurity was a borderless issue and required collaborations, both local and international, and strategic interventions to address cyber threats.
The director stated that the country had existing cybersecurity frameworks and policies but doubted if they could address emerging threats, especially with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Some of the frameworks he mentioned included the Cyber Crime Act 2015, recently amended in 2024 and the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023, which were pivotal in driving the country’s cybersecurity architecture.
“NITDA, seven years ago released the National Public Key Infrastructure as a regulation. We also have other sectoral frameworks, the Risk-Based Cybersecurity framework for financial institutions released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Given the fact that we have all these frameworks, their effectiveness is still a question and I think the first thing is for a rebase line on the basis that informs the existing frameworks.
“Majority of the frameworks were issued far before now, and there are emerging risks like the AI-driven threats and some of the frameworks that we have are not really addressing them,’’ he said.
The director mentioned that in spite of significant efforts in public awareness campaigns, cyber threats, such as device code phishing, continued to persist across the country.
He stressed that enhanced and more interactive awareness programmes were necessary to educate the public on the dangers of cybercrime.
Mr Bakare also said that Nigeria had a shortage of skilled cybersecurity experts, with about 8,300 cybersecurity experts to 220 million people, adding that there was a need to develop skills in that area.
The Director called for more affordable training platforms and certification programmes to help develop a larger pool of cybersecurity professionals in the country.
“We are looking for platforms that can provide an efficient way of training people and we are also looking at collaborations that can help bring down the cost of cybersecurity certification courses.
“Averagely, you see Nigerians spending between $2,000 dollars to $5,000 for this certification which is very expensive and reducing the cost will increase the number of experts,’’ he said.
Another concern he raised was the issue of governance, risk management and compliance among government institutions.
According to him, NITDA is working on a regime that will audit government organisations and ensure compliance with cybersecurity frameworks.
He also said the country required more efficient threat intelligence platforms that could gather, analyse and share information on cybersecurity threats.
Mr Bakare further stated the need to adopt cloud-based solutions to improve vulnerabilities, adding that it could assist in identifying external threats in institutions.
“The government is making efforts to ensure the management and effective utilisation of the National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to secure online transactions and communications in collaboration with stakeholders.
“For government institutions, we are working on a framework for zero trust which should create an efficient platform.
“The platform will ensure that before you access any information-based system, either cloud-based or on-premise, you have to go through a zero trust platform.
“This is to ensure that digital trust is effectively maintained and that the incidences of data leakages are reduced,’’ Mr Bakare said.
He added that they were working on developing a National Cybersecurity Architecture expected to consolidate various cybersecurity initiatives and frameworks into a single source of truth.
“We are working towards an architecture that will serve as the single source of truth for Nigeria’s National Cybersecurity Strategy and help streamline efforts for effective management of cyberspace,’’ he said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian government and the Republic of Finland have formalised a strategic partnership on digitalisation and innovation, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at expanding economic activities and strengthening cooperation in the digital sector.
The agreement was signed in Abuja by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, and Mr Jarno Syrjälä, Under‑Secretary of State (International Trade) at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
According to a statement from the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the communications minister, Mr Isime Esene, the MoU will establish a framework for collaboration across key areas, including digital government, emerging technologies, digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, innovation ecosystems, and capacity building.
Mr Tijani described the signing as “an important step in strengthening the partnership between both countries as we work to build a more inclusive, innovation-driven digital economy.”
“This agreement is a significant next step following our engagements in Helsinki in February, where we met with key stakeholders, including Finnvera and Finnfund, and held productive discussions on advancing collaboration around digital infrastructure, the Data Exchange Platform, and opportunities for Finnish participation in Project Bridge.”
The Minister emphasised that the partnership would “unlock meaningful opportunities for both countries, enabling us to leverage digital transformation as a catalyst for sustainable growth and shared prosperity.”
Echoing this optimism, Mr Syrjälä said: “Finland is very pleased to deepen its partnership with Nigeria in building resilient, secure, and human‑centric digital societies. Digitalisation is at its best when it empowers people, strengthens trust, and creates new opportunities for innovation.”
“Nigeria is a key partner for Finland in Africa, and this MoU provides a strong basis for concrete cooperation between our governments, institutions, and private sectors. Together, we can advance digital solutions that are interoperable, future‑fit, and beneficial to both our nations,” he added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
New Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools designed to provide support for users of its applications have been launched by Meta.
The AI Support Assistant will work on the Facebook and Instagram apps, the company said in a statement.
The tools will help users to receive reliable and action-oriented assistance when needed.
In December, the Meta AI support assistant, a tool designed to provide reliable, 24/7 support for nearly any support issue at any time, was previewed.
Now, Meta is rolling it out globally on the Facebook and Instagram apps for iOS and Android, and within Help Centre on Facebook and Instagram on desktop, with even more capabilities and ways to help.
The new Meta AI support assistant is designed to help resolve account problems from start to finish. It offers answers for any question, like notification settings or new features, and can also take action for users on a growing set of requests directly within Facebook and, in the future, on Instagram.
The feature can report scams, impersonation accounts, or problematic content, make it easier to see why content was taken down, provide appeal options, track what happens next, manage privacy settings, reset passwords, and update profile settings.
The Meta AI support assistant can respond to requests typically in under five seconds, dramatically reducing wait times compared to traditional help centre searches or seeking answers on external websites.
“The Meta AI support assistant is a major step in our work to deliver stronger support on our apps. In fact, among people who have provided feedback, the majority report a positive experience with the Meta AI support assistant. It’s rolling out now in all languages supported by Facebook and Instagram for support topics.
“We’re continuing to invest in AI- powered tools to make support more accessible, reliable, and effective — and we’ll keep evolving the Meta AI support assistant as more people use it and as the technology advances, so it continues to improve over time,” the organisation disclosed.
Meta has also deployed AI to improve content enforcement to help users reduce the chance that scammers trick people into giving away their login details, ultimately finding and mitigating 5,000 scam attempts per day that no existing review team had caught before.
Meta said over the next few years, it would be deploying these more advanced AI systems across its apps once they consistently perform better than its current methods of content enforcement, transforming its approach.
“As we do this, we’ll reduce our reliance on third-party vendors for content enforcement and focus on strengthening our internal systems and workforce.
“While we’ll still have people who review content, these systems will be able to take on work that’s better-suited to technology, like repetitive reviews of graphic content or areas where adversarial actors are constantly changing their tactics, such as with illicit drug sales or scams,” it stated.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As part of its commitment to celebrating and rewarding creativity, Facebook has updated its guidance, with clear definitions of what counts as original and unoriginal content.
In a message on Monday, the social media platform said it was offering content creators new tools to report impersonation.
Launched last year, the content protection tool is expanding beyond detecting reel matches across Meta platforms to now also flag potential impersonation.
Creators can take action on content theft and easily submit impersonation reports all in one place.
Facebook, in the statement received by Business Post, said creators can check for access to content protection in their professional dashboard or apply for access here.
The platform also disclosed that in 2025, it removed over 20 million accounts impersonating large content creators, and impersonation reports related to large content creators dropped by 33 per cent.
Further, Facebook is deprioritising unoriginal content by making sure they do not perform well on its platform.
It noted that content that is duplicated from other sources or makes low-value changes to someone else’s content may see significantly reduced reach, and accounts that primarily post unoriginal content may lose eligibility for recommendations and monetisation.
It was emphasised that “these changes provide creators who post original content with greater reach and monetisation opportunities, provide stronger protections for their work, and reduce the reach of unoriginal content.”
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