NIMC obtains highest ISMS for data protection

THE National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has obtained the highest global standards for Information Security Management System (ISMS) in its determination to ensure the security of data and information obtained from citizens as it steps up enrollment and issuance of the National Identification Number (NIN).

The Director-General of NIMC, Engr Aliyu Aziz, who made this known in a statement in Abuja last week, said this was in line with the Commission’s commitment to security of information and data security.

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“We obtained the ISO/IEC 27001:2013, which is a global information security standard that formally specifies an Information Security Management System (ISMS) to safeguard the data and information obtained from citizens and legal residents in line with global best practices,” he said.

According to Aziz, the ISMS “prescribes a set of best practices that include documentation requirements, divisions of responsibility, availability, access  control, security, auditing and corrective as well as preventive measures.”

He said the move was to ensure adequate security of data being collected from citizens and legal residents as the commission gears up to attain 100 per cent enrolment in the on-going efforts to ensure every Nigerian is enrolled and issued the National Identification Number (NIN). The mandatory usage of the NIN took effect on January 1, 2019.

According to Aziz, in this era of rising cyber-attacks, national institutions such as NIMC that hold national data are taking several security precautions to keep their information vault safe.

“NIMC as the custodian of the most important data in the country, therefore, has taken that a notch higher by embracing the best global practice in data security,” he said.

The ISO/IEC 27001 is a robust framework that helps organisations protect information such as financial data, intellectual property or sensitive customer information. It also helps them identify risks and puts in place security measures that are right for their data, so that they can manage or reduce risks to their information.

“As  an  ISO  27001-certified  commission,  we  are  serious  about  information security  and  have  adopted  international  best  practices  designed  to mitigate risks while meeting regulatory and legal compliance requirements that relate to the protection and management of information, intellectual property,  employee  details, and  citizens  data,” the NIMC D-G stated.

He disclosed that the Commission first achieved this certification in 2014 and undergoes annual surveillance audit to maintain and recertify to this stated global standard.

NIMC is also one of the few Government-owned facilities certified under the MasterCard Global Vendor Certification Program (GVCP) Scheme on the African continent. One of the applets on  the  national e-ID  card  is  the  payment  applet  which  requires  NIMC  to certify  to  the MasterCard  Global  Vendor  Certification Programme.

NIMC is also using the identity registration to drive financial inclusion through the issuance of National Identity Number (NIN) with which those who have been left out of banking can transact businesses.