THE Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has commenced the process of establishing a Cyber Security Incidence Response Team, CSIRT. The initiative, which was exclusively designed for the telecommunications sector, would facilitate intervention, swift identification of threats/vulnerabilities and sharing of valuable information and resources to assist in fortifying the resilience of the National Information and Communications Technology, ICT, infrastructure.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, NCC, said the initiative was specifically designed to protect the telecoms sector from cyber attacks that could rubbish the tremendous achievements recorded by the sector since its commercial launch in 2001. He made the disclosure at the 2019 English, West and Central Africa Instructor Conference in Lagos.

Danbatta, who was represented by Aminu Abdullah, principal manager, new media and security, NCC, said: “In conformity with the National Cyber Security Strategy, the Commission has commenced the process of establishing a Cyber Security Incidence Response Team, CSIRT, exclusively for the telecommunications sector.”

According to him, the Sectorial CSIRT would complement the ngCERT, by handling and containing cyber security incidents in the telecommunications sector. “The NCC-CSIRT, when established, will facilitate intervention, swift identification of threats/vulnerabilities and sharing of valuable information and resources to assist in fortifying the resilience of the National ICT Infrastructure.

“Despite the slow start, internet use is growing exponentially in Nigeria, and a huge amount of data is being used in a number of fields such as banking, medicine, communications, government, education,” among others, and it also poses unprecedented threats for user’s security and privacy, Danbatta said.

– July 12, 2019 @ 16:59 GMT |