Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,  Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde has said that, cyber security is crucial to the quest for  growth and development of the economy.

He stated this on Thursday, while delivering a Keynote Address at the National Cybersecurity  Forum held in Lagos. According to him, the increasing usage of internet by Nigerians,  is heavily strengthening online economy, and buoying up other indices of development across the country. 

However, the security of the cyber space, he says, becomes imperative, not only to ensure the growth of the economy,  but also to safeguard it against  local and international threats that may be posed to it by cyber criminals.

" With over 56 million Nigerians using the internet daily, digital technologies and internet have become the backbone of Nigeria's economy. However, network and information systems can be affected by incidents such as human mistakes, natural events, technical failures or malicious attacks or hacking that are becoming very frequent and more complex by the day. The security of network and information systems in Nigeria is therefore, very important to the overall growth and development of online economy", he said.

Lamorde who was represented at the Forum by Head of Operations, Lagos Zonal Office of the EFCC, Mr. Iliyasu Kwarbai, suggested the establishment of a well- functioning network of Computer Emergency Response Teams at the national level and covering all states of the a federation, as one of the measures that can be taken to improve cybersecurity readiness and response mechanisms. He also called for a well-defined policy on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection( CIIP) with the aim of strengthening the security and resilience of vital ICT infrastructure.

The National Cybersecurity Forum, the first of its kind, was convened by the Office of the National Security Adviser, as a stakeholders' talk shop aimed at evolving impregnable national security framework, effective enough for the continued functioning of all entities in the national space. The National Security Adviser, Mohammed Sambo Dasuki,  represented at the Forum  by Alhaji Ibrahim Masel, said that,  owing to its sensitive nature, the Federal Government has designated cyber security  as a national security priority.

According to him, cyber crimes have become global problems needing concerted actions of individuals, organizations and nations to  tackle. "This is why we need stakeholders partnership and inputs to form a framework that we can work with".

The Forum paraded local and international experts in the information and telecommunication ; security, academia and informal sectors, among whom are Mr. Hakeem Bello Osagie, Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria; Professor Benoit Morel, Professor of Cybersecurity, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; Mr. Peter Jack, Director General, Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency and others.

Media & Publicity
19th June, 2014