BY: Justice Godfry
Some cyber security experts and enthusiasts have urged Nigerians, especially the youths to develop and harness cyber security talents, predicting that such talents will ultimately turn to revenue spinner for Nigeria in the near future.
The experts, who made the call at this year’s NaijaSecCon 2019 Cybersecurity Conference in Lagos, noted that with the increase in the prevalence of cybercrime attacks on business organizations, government infrastructures and individuals, the demands for cyber security skills will also be on the rise.
First to make the call is the Lead Convener of NaijaSecCon 2019 Cybersecurity Conference, Mr. Rotimi Akinyele, while speaking to Journalists on the sideline of the Conference, which attracted stakeholders from financial institutions and other sectors of the Nigerian economy.
According to him, the rise in cybercrime and reliance on the digital world would see a huge demand for a cybersecurity workforce, which is expected to rise over the next few years. Thus, the Naija Cyber Security Conference, which brings skilled cyber security experts within the Nigerian cyber security domain and get everybody to come together on a platform where they can present and network.
“For us, the most important thing is how government can develop and harness cyber security talents. That’s our priority. We have a lot of talented people in Nigeria, but these talents are not really being harnessed to contribute to National economy,” Akinyele said.
Asked to be specific on what industry enthusiasts like him are doing to develop and harness such talents, he disclosed that Naija Sec Con has an objective to establish a hub where students from across Nigeria can come for internships and get nurtured by experts, who will place them on the right track.
With the hub, according to him, the skills acquired will be utilised properly and not for fraudulent activities.
Meanwhile, Favour Femi-Oyewole, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Access Bank, who spoke on Social Engineering and its Importance, has described social engineering as the fasted growing area in cybercrime.
She argues that, social engineering, which targets people with the right information and manipulate them when done right, has staggering returns on investment. She explained that social engineering is carried out by breaking the normal security process by using the trust relationship between people, adding that it often consists of many steps and it is not a one way process.
The 2019 edition of the NaijaSecCon was programmed into four sessions. They are Lockpick Village, where enthusiasts and tinkers alike are served to the chills of how lockpicking works and Cyber Security Career Village, where cyber enthusiasts, IT Security pros, and those who would love to create a career within the space gather.
Others are Technical Conference with more than 10 industry experts unravelling and advising on applicable threats within the space and Live Hacking Contest for students of tertiary institutions playing around on capturing hidden flags all through the event.