‘AI has introduced new challenges in cybersecurity’

Executive Director/co-founder of cyber security consulting firm, Cybercode Ltd., Mr Olatunji Igbalajobi, has said the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the cyber space has introduced new challenges in cybersecurity.

Speaking in Lagos recently, Igbalajobi said the advancements in AI are good but carry implications for the country.

He said AI-powered fraud is projected to reach 350 billion between 2023 and 2027 globally.

Igbalajobi, who is also a member, Board of Trustees, Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), was speaking on the implications of the growing knowledge and embrace of AI around the world, with Nigeria not being left behind.

On June 10, Nigerian-based company, Insolify, invented and introduced Safi, an AI tool, into Nigeria.

The cyber security expert said AI-driven attacks were more adaptable and could potentially bypass traditional security measures, adding that this evolution in cybercrime tactics made defending against these threats more complex and demanding.

According to him, there are different methods of attacks within the AI application and environment, which include data poisoning attacks, model evasion attacks, among others.

“AI poisoning attack occurs when threats actors inject malicious or corrupted data into training data sets, aiming to cause the AI to produce inaccurate results.

“Model evasion attack, on the other hand, is when attackers feed the AI with contradictory examples in order to create inaccurate predictions,” he said.

The cyber security expert said this showed that there is need to prepare for what is coming, noting that a lot of cyber attacks were on the way and if care is not taken, it would result in financial impacts.

He also noted that the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) had been calling the attention of organisations in the supply chain and manufacturing industry to consider cyber security as an integral part of their organisations.

He explained that with this awareness, they were beginning to get information on how cyber attacks happened and how their industry could also be susceptible to it.

“Now, most manufacturing industries are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of their machines and using less human labour.

“A manufacturing company using AI has to know that the same way it is programmed to do a perfect job, a hacker could also carry out a malicious attack on the algorithm of AI.

“This attack could destabilise the AI from doing what it was programmed to do before, hence, industries are beginning to see the need for cybersecurity,” Igbalajobi said.

On reasons cybersecurity adoption in the country has been sluggish, he said Nigerians were more reactive than proactive, noting that most organisations waited to experience cyber attacks before doing the needful.

The expert noted that the cost of mitigating cyber attacks were usually outrageous, noting that companies ended up spending triple the amount that should have been used to prevent it.

Igbalajobi also explained that the public-private partnership sector-driven collaboration was still not where it should be, saying that the country had some international partnership with notable organisations around the world, who were trying to invest in Nigeria’s cybersecurity.

ALSO READ: Gov Yusuf settles Ado Bayero’s daughter’s rent after eviction notice in Lagos