Samsung Electronics has announced the launch of its groundbreaking Samsung Vision AI TV, marking a bold new chapter in the company’s history of innovation and leadership in the television industry.

For 19 consecutive years, Samsung has held the position of the world’s No. 1 TV brand, a testament to its unwavering commitment to quality, design, and user experience. This remarkable journey of excellence has been defined by a series of world first innovations that have consistently set new standards in the industry.

From the debut of the Bordeaux LCD TV in 2006, admired for the world’s first sensuous design, to other breakthroughs like the first edge type LED TV, the first Smart TV with applications, the brilliance of 100% Color Volume QLED technology, and the refined Curved UHD TV, Samsung has never stopped setting new standards for what a TV can achieve.

Now in 2025, the company has taken another bold step forward with Samsung Vision AI which positions Samsung TVs as more than entertainment devices. They enhance content interaction, smart home functionality and synergy across devices, while maintaining strong privacy with the Samsung Knox security.

“Our mission has always been to create technology that feels personal, intuitive, and inspiring,” said Tae Sun Lee, CEO of Samsung Electronics West Africa. “With Vision AI, we’re not just offering a TV, we’re introducing a smarter, more connected way to live, building on almost two decades of global leadership.”

Samsung Vision AI is packed with features designed to make the TV experience smarter and more personal:

•            Click to Search – Find information and personalized content recommendations about what you’re watching instantly, with just one click.

•            Future-Proof Design – Enjoy 7 years of free OS updates so that your TV keeps evolving, unlocking new AI-powered experiences over time.

•            Smart Home Control Tower – Effortlessly connect and control your Galaxy devices, Bespoke appliances, and other IoT products through SmartThings.

•            Knox Security – Advanced protection to keep your personal information safe while you stay connected.

•            Art & Entertainment – Seamlessly integrates with the Samsung Art TV lineup and offers immersive gaming, making it a hub for both creativity and play.

According to Oge Maduagwu, Head of Marketing & Communications, Samsung Electronics West Africa, “These new TVs are intelligent lifestyle hubs as they leverage Vision AI to deliver personalized, contextual, and seamless experiences that redefine television. Combining TV, AI Art, Live translations and sleek designs to set our TVs miles ahead of others”.

Continuing she said:

“Samsung’s 2025 TV lineup delivers our most advanced viewing experience yet, with innovations across OLED, Neo QLED, QLED, and lifestyle models. This year, we’ve introduced glare-free OLED and expanded anti-glare technology to more Neo QLED models, boosted brightness by up to 30%, and added high refresh rates up to 240Hz for ultra-smooth motion. Our new Vision AI enhances picture, sound, and even integrates smart home features like pet and family care monitoring.

“We’ve launched premium additions such as Neo QLED Mini-LED with  wireless One Connect, plus Nigeria’s first 100-inch Neo QLED. From breathtaking picture quality to intelligent home integration, 2025 Samsung TVs are designed to deliver unmatched clarity, style, and connectivity.”

She reiterated Samsung’s commitment to shaping the viewing experience of tomorrow, with innovations designed to bring joy, connection, and inspiration to households worldwide.

“For years, customers have put their trust in Samsung TVs, trusting them to get quality and value for their money, thus, making them the global No.1 TV brand for 19 years consecutively and the brand continues to honor that trust by delivering products that exceed expectations.

“The new Neo QLED 8K, OLED, Neo QLED 4K, QLED & Crystal UHD TVs are now available at all authorized Samsung stores nationwide”, she Maduagwu added.

In a significant move to bolster Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has inaugurated the Technical Working Group (TWG) on National Cloud Infrastructure.

This initiative aims to enhance local cloud capabilities, attract hyper-scale investments, and position Nigeria as a leading technology hub in Africa. 

Speaking at the inauguration, NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, emphasised the need for accurate data and regulatory frameworks to support these initiatives, necessary for Nigeria to control its digital infrastructure, data, and technological future noting that,

“Without this foundation, we cannot achieve true digital sovereignty. Our goal is to build an ecosystem where both local data centre providers can scale, and global hyper-scalers see Nigeria as a viable investment destination.” 

While identifying lack of accurate data on Nigeria’s IT infrastructure as significant challenge, Inuwa noted that while Africa comprises nearly 19% of the world’s population, it hosts less than 1% of global data centres.

“This disparity, coupled with limited insights into Nigeria’s existing IT capacity, hampers investment efforts and without clear data on our infrastructure, attracting investment becomes challenging,” he said.  

The NITDA boss maintained that, to address this, NITDA commissioned comprehensive research to assess Nigeria’s digital landscape which findings have highlighted the need for improved regulatory frameworks, clearer investment incentives, and stronger public-private collaboration. He added that subsequently upon this, NITDA has engaged global consultants to redefine strategies for cloud development. 

As the TWG embarks on its mission, NITDA urges industry experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to contribute their expertise and resources. “With collective effort, Nigeria can emerge as the premier digital hub for West and Central Africa,” Inuwa concluded.

While corroborating the Director General’s point of views, Acting Director of Regulation and Compliance, Barrister Emmanuel Edet, underscored the importance of regulatory intervention in fostering a robust digital economy.

“Our objective is to establish policies and legal frameworks that support cloud development, enabling us to securely host and manage our data. This is crucial for the growth of our digital economy, he said.”  

He also highlights the necessity of capacity building, stating that, “Equipping ourselves with top-tier training and expertise is essential to fully leverage digital technologies.” Barrister Edet called on all stakeholders to actively participate in shaping Nigeria’s digital future.

“Collaboratively, we must develop a framework that reflects our national interests, and it should be widely accepted. This effort will define Nigeria’s role in the global digital arena, he observed. 

The TWG will help in the drive to attract hyperscale investments and enhance local cloud capabilities by proffering measures to encourage the use of accurate data, recommend the enactment and compliance to enabling policies.

Members of the TWG which includes Google, AWS, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, HUAWEI Cloud, Equinix, Kasi, Rack Centre, Africa Data Centres, several other data centre operators and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission expressed support and readiness to volunteer and contribute resources.

…Nearly 80% of Organizations Hit by Ransomware Took More than a Week to Recover

Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, today released a sector survey report, “The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2024,” which revealed that the rate of ransomware attacks against healthcare organizations has reached a four-year high since 2021.

Of those organizations surveyed, two-thirds (67%) were impacted by ransomware attacks in the past year, up from 60% in 2023.

The rising rate of ransomware attacks against healthcare institutions contrasts with the declining rate of ransomware attacks across sectors; the overall rate of ransomware attacks fell from 66% in 2023 to 59% in 2024.

Alongside an increase in the rate of ransomware attacks, the healthcare sector reported increasingly longer recovery times.

Only 22% of ransomware victims fully recovered in a week or less, a considerable drop from the 47% reported in 2023 and 54% in 2022.

In addition, 37% took more than a month to recover, up from 28% in 2023, reflecting the increased severity and complexity of attacks.

“While we’ve seen the rate of ransomware attacks reach a kind of “homeostasis” or even decline across industries, attacks against healthcare organizations continue to intensify, both in number and scope. The highly sensitive nature of healthcare information and need for accessibility will always place a bullseye on the healthcare industry from cybercriminals. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have learned that few healthcare organizations are prepared to respond to these attacks, demonstrated by increasingly longer recovery times. These attacks can have immense ripple effects, as we’ve seen this year with major ransomware attacks impacting the healthcare industry and impacting patient care,” said John Shier, field CTO, Sophos.

“To combat these determined adversaries, healthcare organizations must adopt a more proactive, human-led approach to threat detection and response, combining advanced technology with continuous monitoring to stay ahead of attackers.”

Additional findings from the report include:

·       Ransom Recovery Costs Surge: The mean cost of recovery in a healthcare ransomware attack was $2.57 million in 2024, up from $2.2 million in 2023 and double the 2021 cost

·       Ransom Demands vs Payments: 57% of healthcare institutions that paid the ransom ended up paying more than the original demand

·       Root Cause of Attack: Compromised credentials and exploited vulnerabilities were tied for the number one root cause of attack, each accounting for 34% of attacks

·       Backups Targeted: 95% of healthcare organizations hit by ransomware in the past year said that cybercriminals attempted to compromise their backups during the attack.

·       Increased Pressure: Organizations whose backups were compromised were more than twice as likely to pay the ransom to recover encrypted data (63% vs. 27%)

·       Who Pays the Ransom: Insurance providers are heavily involved in ransom payments, contributing in 77% of cases. 19% of total ransom payment funding comes from insurance providers

The latest Sophos report on real-world ransomware experiences explores the full victim journey, from attack rate and root cause to operational impact and business outcomes, of 402 healthcare organizations.

The results for this sector survey report are part of a broader, vendor-agnostic survey of 5,000 cybersecurity/IT leaders conducted between January and February 2024 across 14 countries and 15 industry sectors.