NCC Develops Initiative To Curb Cyber Crime In Nigeria

The Nigeria Communications Commission, a consumer-centric telecom regulatory agency, has launched the Cyber Security Incidence Response Team (C-SIRT) with the aim to curb cyber crime in the country

Over the years, internet crime has seen an alarming growth in the country owing mostly to the growth of the internet and its wide acceptance globally.

Today, different criminal activities such as spamming, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card frauds, credit card frauds, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) frauds, phishing, identity theft,  among several other forms of sophisticated cyber-criminal activities are being perpetrated Within the cyberspace.

 In 2019 alone, several cases of cyber crime have been reported in Nigeria. A recent case was the arrest of Nigerian singers Naira Marley, Zlatan, and three others over alleged involvement in internet fraud.

 It is against the backdrop of the these that the NCC has launched the Cyber Security Incidence Response Team (C-SIRT).

The new initiative was announced in Abuja by the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta while speaking on the sideline of the  88th Edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) with the theme, “Challenges of Cybercrime: The Role of Telecom Service Providers”.

The C-SIRT, according to Danbata, is designed to secure the telecoms cyberspace as it is a network of computers assembled to monitor issues of cybersecurity on the telecoms network. 

In line with a recommendation by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Dnbatta urged telecoms service providers to strengthen their cyber-risk protection systems and architecture, as well as  clients to telecoms operators to begin to use next generation authentication as against the username-password authentication system.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, NCC Director  of Consumer Affairs Bureau, represented by her Deputy Alhaji Ismaila Adediba, while delivering the welcome address, stated that the TCP is hosted on a quarterly basis.

Onwuegbuchulam said the conference has become a veritable platform for addressing critical industry issues affecting consumers and other stakeholders in the telecommunications value-chain in Nigeria.