Nigeria Computer Society tasks govt on cyber stability

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), on Monday, called on the Federal Government and relevant agencies to implement policies to ensure cyber stability in the country.

The professional body made the call in a communique issued at the end of a stakeholders’ meeting on National Cyber Security Challenges by NCS, Edinburgh Napier University, UK and Soft Alliance Resources Ltd.

The communique was jointly signed by Prof. Adesina Sodiya, the NCS President and Mr Iyiola Ayoola, the Executive Secretary of NCS.

The participants proffered some recommendations that would ensure cyber stability and address the challenges of cybersecurity.

It recommended that the NCS should create further collaboration with other stakeholders on the need to generate grassroots awareness on cybersecurity.

The communiqué advised the government to consider a functional framework to engage the international communities such as the United Nations on the challenges of cybersecurity solutions.

According to the document, the government should enforce existing related bills such as Electronic Transaction Bill (for financial online payment systems) and National Critical Infrastructure Bill (for protection of digital assets) to ensure cyber stability in Nigeria.

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“Government to invest on incidence response capabilities at local, national and international levels.

“There should be the establishment of the National Cyber Security Agency by government and NCS to collaborate with other stakeholders on Private Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement to finance awareness programmes for the citizenry.

“Government to commence the process of flexible identification of citizens through data harmonisation.

“NCS to act further on its advocacy business through training and various seminars as a means of educating the public on the identified threats in the cyberspace,’’ it said.

The document further urged NCS to advise the government to introduce a general course tagged “Cyber Security” at the entry-level of schools; not only in the tertiary institutions but also at all levels of education.

It added that the NCS should also advise the government on the need to outsource the activities of Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to facilitate early completion of the project.

The communique also recommended the full implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) policy by the Cyber Security Agency.

The document recommended the enforcement of the Cybercrime Act 2015 in all sectors of the economy including health and education sectors.

(NAN)