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Appreciating Ugwuanyi’s Renewed Mandate @ 55

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By Louis Amoke

The good news about Enugu State under the watch of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is that since the governor entrusted the state to the hands of God, the goodness of God has continued to be made manifest in its affairs, to the delight of the people.

Born on March 20, 1964, Gov. Ugwuanyi, today, Wednesday, March 20, clocks 55, to the glory of God. Inaugurated as the 3rd civilian governor of the new Enugu State on May 29, 2015, Ugwuanyi on Saturday, March 9, 2019 was overwhelmingly re-elected, in one of the most peaceful, transparent and credible elections in the history of the state.

The most amazing aspect of the entire scenario was that the governor’s resounding victory in this month of March coincided with his 55th birthday anniversary, which calls for double celebrations in thanksgiving to God, for His mercies and kindness to a man of faith and goodwill.

Though his overwhelming victory and that of all other candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, did not come to many as a surprise, especially those who are informed about the political antecedents of Enugu State, as well as the governor’s sterling performance and swelling popularity in the state, the hidden truth remains that Gov. Ugwuanyi won his reelection the day he had his first interaction with journalists, a few days after his inauguration in 2015.

On that fateful day, Gov. Ugwuanyi stated clearly that his administration will work hard to ensure peace in the state as a panacea for progress and rapid development. The peace-loving governor pledged not to engage in any act that would undermine the relationship between his administration and the past ones, vis-à-vis himself and past leaders of the state. He promised to unite the leaders of the state and accord them due respect irrespective of political affiliations, stressing that “everybody is our friend and the era of politics of bitterness is over”.

This strange resolution which Gov. Ugwuanyi religiously adhered to, no doubt contributed immensely to the overwhelming support and endorsement he enjoyed from the people of the state from all spheres of the society and across party lines, prior to the general election as well as his landslide victory at the polls.

The governor’s decision became one of his greatest assets and a rallying point for prominent leaders from all walks of life, such as the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, former Governor of old Anambra State, Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, Archbishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Senator Fidelis Okoro, Senator Hyde Onuaguluchi, and Ambassador Mrs. Justina Eze, to endorse and campaign vigorously for his reelection.

For instance, at the grand finale of the governor’s door-to-door campaign, held at Udenu Local Government Area headquarters ahead of the just concluded governorship and state assembly elections, some of these leaders eulogized him for entrenching peace, tranquility and good governance, in a manner that has never been experienced before in the history of the state.

They described Gov. Ugwuanyi as a man of history, expressing delight that he has united everybody in the state, irrespective of political leaning. The leaders told him that the culture of peace and good governance he has entrenched in the state was unprecedented and will earn him a landslide victory at the polls.

The party stalwarts added that his pre-election adoption by 70 political parties in Enugu State as their consensus candidate was an affirmation that the governor has united everybody in the state.

While Senator Ekweremadu disclosed that “there is no bickering or quarrels among the political leaders in the state”, Senator Nwobodo, who described Gov. Ugwuanyi as a son thanked him “for bringing everybody together”.

According to Senator Onuaguluchi, “Gov. Ugwuanyi has brought uncommon peace to the state” and “all of us have come to learn from Gburugburu (Ugwuanyi)”. Senator Okoro pointed out that “we have not seen his type before”, and Amb. Mrs. Eze joined others in urging the people to vote massively for him and other candidates of the PDP.

Shortly after the March 9 election, which was adjudged the most peaceful, freest and credible by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)-accredited local and foreign observers, 70 political parties, and leaders of the state, among others, the coalition of governorship candidates in the state led by Gerald Abonyi of Labour Party (LP) congratulated Gov. Ugwuanyi, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the exercise and pledged to support his administration.

Basking in the euphoria of the well-deserved victory, support groups and people from various Local Government Areas have continued to troop to the Government House, Enugu to equally congratulate the governor.

On the day the people of Igbo-Eze North LGA paid him a congratulatory visit, the peace-loving governor appealed to members of his political party to be magnanimous in victory by promoting peace and unity and showing love to one another irrespective of party affiliations. He stated that “now the election is over, politicians in the state should invoke their Christian faith, go back and unite with their perceived enemies, show love to them, so that the prevailing peace for which Enugu State is known will be adequately sustained”.

Prior to this, Ugwuanyi, as a humble and appreciative leader, had shortly after the victory returned to the markets and streets to say “Thank You” to the people for reelecting him as their governor. It would be recalled that the governor and his party, the PDP, unlike other political parties, embarked on an intense door-to-door campaign at the markets and streets of the state canvassing vigorously for votes.

It was, therefore, a heartwarming experience for the residents, the petty traders, the barrow pushers and the market men and women, among others, seeing their governor at their doorstep, coming to say “Thank You” for reelecting him into office.

Gov. Ugwuanyi had earlier in his acceptance speech expressed gratitude to God and thanked the people of the state for their overwhelming support in renewing his mandate.

Accepting the mandate, the governor stated that “this victory does not belong to me alone”. He disclosed that “it belongs to Ndi Enugu – our political leaders and other stakeholders irrespective of party affiliations; the market men and women, the barrow pushers, taxi and commercial bus drivers, Okada and Keke riders, petty traders, other artisans, town union and community leaders, the clergy, our revered traditional rulers, civil servants, the farmers, the professional class, youth and women groups, students and others who are the true heroes of our democracy”.

He told the people of the state that he was “deeply humbled that you have, once again, invested your trust and faith in our team”, saying that it is now for him and his deputy and running mate, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo “to continue to work for you”.

Ugwuanyi pledged that his administration will devote energy and time to work harder for the wellbeing and prosperity of the people, stressing that “we are open to new ideas and new visions, as we continue to lay the solid foundation for a more prosperous Enugu State”.

According to him, “I hereby reaffirm that we will continue to serve you with the fear of God, with humility and an unwavering commitment to improving the lives of our people and lifting the State to unprecedented heights of development and progress”.

The governor also expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for “his exemplary leadership and for providing the enabling environment that ensured the peaceful conduct of elections in our State”. He equally saluted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “for a job well done and for keeping alive the dream of a brighter democracy”.

Speaking further he said: “We are equally grateful to the Nigerian security agencies and the independent observers who ensured that we had peaceful processes at the polls”.

To his fellow party leaders, members and teeming supporters, Gov. Ugwuanyi thanked them for “the wonderful job that you all did”, saying: “I am very proud of your contributions”.

Extending his hand of fellowship to other contestants he added: “In truth, the victory is not a winner-takes-all. In our spirit of brotherhood, everyone is a winner. Therefore, I reach out my hand of friendship and partnership to my fellow contestants. I invite all of you to join hands with me so that together, we shall build a better Enugu State, to the glory of God.

Re-committing himself to the service of God and the state, Gov. Ugwuanyi declared: “Now is the time to get back to work. We are inspired by the sacrifices and support of our people in renewing our mandate. I am confident that by the special grace of God and with your continuing cooperation and prayers, all things concerning Enugu State will continue to end in praise”.

On the significance of today’s birthday celebration, the time-honoured occasion reinvigorates the governor’s commitment to peace, charity and almsgiving – a constant moral obligation in appreciation of God’s goodness and amazing grace to him as “Nwaogbenye”.

The anniversary offers him, his family, friends, well-wishers, and teeming supporters, who have remained steadfast in prayers, yet another opportunity to give to the poor and less privileged in the society with all sense of divinity and benevolence.

It re-echoes his disposition towards alleviating the suffering of the people as the nexus between him and God. It also re-echoes his long-held appeal that those who intended to offer him birthday gifts should “channel them to charity homes and orphanages in appreciation of God’s mercies and kindness” and “in the spirit of the Lenten Season”.

This, one believes, is the best way to celebrate the governor’s resounding victory at the polls, appreciate God‘s abundant blessings upon him and his family’s life, as well as pray fervently for continued peace and progress of Enugu State, as he strives to render more selfless service in realization of the dreams of the state’s founding fathers.

Your Excellency, it has indeed ended in praise, Happy Birthday. Enugu State is truly in the hands of God.

Amoke writes from Enugu

GrassRoots.ng is on a critical mission; to objectively and honestly represent the voice of ‘grassrooters’ in International, Federal, State and Local Government fora; heralding the achievements of political and other leaders and investors alike, without discrimination. This daily, digital news publication platform serves as the leading source of up-to-date information on how people and events reflect on the global community. The pragmatic articles reflect on the life of the community people, covering news/current affairs, business, technology, culture and fashion, entertainment, sports, State, National and International issues that directly impact the locals.

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GROpinion

Exposing the Malicious Sabotage of MoMo PSB Project in Enugu Ezike

By: Cyprian Nwodo

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MoMo Payment Service

The recent activities of some individuals with one Davids Iyida attempting to sabotage the MoMo Payment Service Bank project intended to benefit, especially  Enugu Ezike people, have raised significant concern and outrage within the community.

Davids Iyida
Davids Iyida

Such actions aimed at undermining a project with immense potential to uplift and empower the people of Enugu Ezike can only be described as malicious.

The MoMo PSB project is designed to bring financial services closer to the people of Enugu Ezike, facilitating easier access to banking and financial transactions.

This project is expected to create jobs, stimulate local businesses, and provide a much-needed boost to the local economy. In a region where such opportunities are rare, the MoMo PSB project represents a beacon of hope for many residents.

It is particularly baffling and disheartening to witness a member of the community collaborate with outsiders to hinder the progress of their own people.

The reasons behind such alliances remain unclear, but the impact of these actions is evident and deeply troubling. Working to obstruct the project is not only delaying progress but also actively working against the welfare and advancement of Enugu Ezike.

The efforts to destroy Kingsley Ifeanyi Adonu’s good intention, despite all the positive contributions he has made, are nothing short of wickedness.

Adonu, a visionary entrepreneur and the leading MTN Partner in the South East, has dedicated significant resources and efforts to bring the MoMo Payment Service Bank project to fruition.

His vision for the community includes economic growth, financial inclusion, and overall development. Attacking his vision is an attack on the progress and future of Enugu Ezike.

The question that lingers in the minds of many is: Why sabotaging our own benefits? In a time when unity and collective effort are paramount for the community’s advancement, such actions of sabotage are counterproductive and harmful. The community needs all hands on deck to drive development and improve the quality of life for its residents. Internal conflicts and malicious actions only serve to set back these efforts.

Despite the challenges and the malicious attempts to derail the project, it is important to reaffirm that S Mobile Group vision for establishing a MoMo Payment Service Bank in Enugu Ezike will prevail.

The community stands behind this vision, recognizing the immense benefits it promises to bring. Efforts to hinder progress will ultimately fail in the face of collective determination and support.

The actions of these ungrateful individuals, aimed at sabotaging the MoMo PSB project, are grave disservice to the community of Enugu Ezike.

In a time when progress and development are desperately needed, such malicious activities are deeply regrettable.

However, the vision and determination of Kingsley Ifeanyi Adonu and the community’s support ensure that the project will succeed, bringing much-needed growth and prosperity to Enugu Ezike.

Let it be known that no amount of sabotage can dim the light of progress and unity.

Nwodo, a public commentator writes from Enugu State

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Cybersecurity in 2024: Towards Ever Greater Sophistication of Tactics

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Chester Wisniewski, Director Global Field CTO

Writer: CHESTER WISNIEWSKI, Director Global Field CTO, Sophos

With 2024 fast approaching, what are the results for 2023 and what are the developments in the threat landscape for this new year?

The year 2023 was marked by persistence in the tactics of cybercriminals, with the predominance of ransomware, the exploitation of vulnerabilities, theft of credentials and even attacks targeting the supply chain. The common point in all his attacks is their formidable effectiveness.

It is therefore essential to ask what trends will persist in 2024 and what strategies businesses should adopt to deal with these future cyber threats.

Between persistent trends and evolving cybercrime tactics

In 2024, the threat landscape is not expected to change radically, particularly with regard to attack typologies and criminal tactics and procedures.

Criminal groups still primarily focus their attention on financial gains and ransomware remains their weapon of choice. These cybercriminals tend to take the easy way out by opportunistically attacking unpatched security vulnerabilities.

The recent Citrix Bleed attack demonstrated the agility of cybercriminals when it comes to quickly and effectively exploiting these new vulnerabilities.
However, once patches are applied to these vulnerabilities, cyberattackers tend to revert to more common strategies of stealing credentials or, failing that, cookies or session cookies, which, while slightly slower, constitute always a proven means that allows them to penetrate within a system.

In 2024, however, we should expect increased sophistication in defense evasion tactics, particularly due to the generalization of certain technologies such as multi-factor authentication. These attacks will combine malicious proxy servers, social engineering techniques and repeated authentication request attacks or “fatigue attacks”.

AI and regulations will continue to shape cybersecurity

In 2024, the development of AI will have a positive impact on the efficiency of IT teams and security teams by enabling them to strengthen defenses and work more efficiently, including through the processing of vast volumes of data in the aim of detecting anomalies. It should make it possible to respond more quickly in the event of an incident.

Indeed, analysis of attacks in 2023 showed a shortening of the time between network penetration and the triggering of a final attack – using malware or ransomware. The need for rapid detection and response tools to prevent costly incidents is therefore essential.

Finally, regulatory developments could have a major influence on measures taken against ransomware. The need to take more substantial measures could push some states to penalize the payment of ransoms, which would represent a brake on malicious actors and change the perspective of companies in the event of an attack.

Other stricter legislation, such as the implementation of the European NIS2 Directive, is also expected to force companies to take additional measures, particularly regarding their abilities to collect data sets.

To protect themselves against increasingly rapid, effective and costly attacks, companies will need to strengthen their defenses by equipping themselves with tools that allow them to detect and respond to incidents more quickly.

The worsening cybersecurity talent shortage does not appear to be as serious as some studies claim. On the contrary, companies have implemented more lax hiring criteria and more open-mindedness in the recruitment process.

From this perspective, to guarantee their survival in a constantly evolving threat landscape, companies have every interest in establishing partnerships with cybersecurity experts whose main mission is to make the hyperconnected world safer, to advise and assist them. in setting up effective defenses.

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GROpinion

The Internal Threat: The Hidden Face of Corporate Threats

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CHESTER WISNIEWSKI on Insider threat
By: CHESTER WISNIEWSKI, Field CTO – Applied research

Businesses today face many threats; but if those coming from outside are their main source of concern with a priority focus on ransomware, they too often forget to consider internal threats which can be just as devastating.

In fact, they take less time to assess the adaptability of their internal security measures in case a cyberattacker manages to break through their defenses from the inside and recover sensitive data that is easily accessible to him. So, what are the means to put in place to detect these threats and respond to them effectively?

The sources of these insider threats are diverse and very often undetected or detectable. They can thus be the result of negligence or even malice.

They can, for example, come from an implementation of relaxed security controls that do not apply to certain systems, or from a lack of logging and identification of these malicious activities.

Although, difficult to measure – since they are rarely the subject of dedicated reports – these internal attacks have already affected many companies.

What are the reasons for the appearance of these threats?

Intentionally or not, insider threats are legion. For example, when an employee carelessly forgets a USB key containing copies of critical information on the train, he then neglects to comply with all the rules in force.

This type of situation can be tragic for the company since there is therefore a risk of theft or public exposure of information that could lead to a violation of official regulations imposed by a governing body (usually GDPR, PCI and HIPPA) or by several regulatory bodies’ premises.

The company must then be extremely transparent by disclosing to its employees – and more broadly to the general public – that it has been the victim of a data breach within the organization, and it must also be held accountable. of all actions associated with this data breach.

But it can also be actions triggered intentionally for a wide variety of reasons. An employee may, for example, realize that he has the possibility of carrying out a malicious action in his workplace because of relaxed controls or because he has high visibility.

This type of situation can lead to the theft of confidential information belonging to the company. The employee then seizes this opportunity to harm the company with impunity.

Various flaws and patterns

Cybersecurity experts have identified three distinct insider threat motives which are revenge, greed, and inattention.

The first two reasons include, for example, intentional and accidental acts, and are more likely to occur following a dismissal or a resignation. However, these reasons vary according to the type of activity of the company.

In the case of the defense sector, it can be corruption or espionage, unlike the ICT sector, where commercial data theft is more widespread.

Employees in charge of selling products and solutions can thus save their customers’ contact details in files and programmers can steal the source code. Despite their media coverage, on the whole, cases of espionage or sabotage remain, fortunately, exceptions.

More generally, data leaks are often caused by insider threats, when sensitive information belonging to the company becomes “uncontained”, when it should be classified confidential according to the operational context.

This information then becomes “public” and people whose position has nothing to do with it can consult it. Very often, when businesses are faced with such accidental data loss or leakage, it is the result of carelessness, inadvertence or clumsiness – such as the loss of mobile devices, USB storage media or public exposure of repositories stored in the cloud.

The classic example of accidental data release comes from the use of the “To” and “CC” fields when sending an email to multiple external recipients, where personally identifiable information is exposed to all of these recipients; a situation that could have been avoided by using the “CCI” (blind copy) mode.

Finally, data destruction is also a typical action where the integrity and availability of data is taken away from the business.

This has the effect of preventing him from accessing critical information, which can directly impact the operational capacity of the company. While this activity is mostly associated with ransomware operators, it can also be attributed to insider threats.

It should be borne in mind that there are many reasons that could lead to such acts, but the main reason remains that the data is generally stored in a weak way, which allows too many people to access information that has nothing to do with the tasks entrusted to them.

These people can steal sensitive data for revenge, but also destroy it or remove it from the company or even try to extort its return.

How can we best respond to these threats?

The implementation of a strategy to prevent these internal threats remains difficult to implement, since once the attack has been launched, anticipation and control are already outdated. It is therefore extremely important to set up preparation sessions aimed at determining the impact of these attacks.

Thus, training employees in the correct use and understanding of internal company systems and processes can go a long way towards avoiding errors associated with accidental data leaks.

In addition, it can be useful to turn to several solutions and tools such as file and document management systems to better manage the critical data that the organization has in its possession. ZTNA limits access to only required tools/services/apps rather than everything on a company’s LAN.

It is also possible to employ Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) tools, capable of preventing accidental data leaks – except in the case of intentional theft. XDR systems and firewalls can also be very useful as part of the disaster prevention and recovery plan because they allow DLP to be implemented and log access and data movement at the same time.  Their actions facilitate forensic work, particularly in understanding failures and their consequences.

Finally, the implementation of technical controls capable of regulating access to data and systems that contain sensitive information, as well as the monitoring of the results of these controls and the responses to violations of the security policy contribute to the detection of ‘a malicious attack in progress.

To protect their company and their employees from these internal threats, managers must imperatively limit access to the data to the persons concerned and ensure the implementation of strict controls on the most sensitive data, while providing them with the support they need.

In essence, therefore, the right balance must be struck between people, process and technology, since any imbalance can favor the introduction of instability, as well as an easier increase and spread of risks – whether they either external or internal to the company.

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