allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Combating Cyber Crime Menace in Nigeria (Page 1 of 1)

As the global concern for cyber crime is upbeat, the need for cyber security in the country against the backdrop of the identification of Nigeria as the weakest link in the battle against such crime is the thrust of this discourse.

How many fraudulent unsolicited mails do you receive daily? While for some it's just a few, for others, the mails come in torrents with some defying all logic. That the obvious reason behind these mails is a ploy to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians does not make it any better. Welcome to the world of scammers who have perfected their game in the battle to fleece people off their hard earned money. Is the issue just tied to monetary acts alone? Recent events have shown that the world of cyber crime goes beyond raiding the treasure chest of people through Yahoo zee moves as the cyber crime is called in Nigeria, but has crossed the line into real growing concern that has the propensity to impact negatively on a nation's security base and economy.

Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Dr Hamadoun Toure placed it succinctly when he stated that the threat has become a global one that has cost many nations millions of dollars and is threatening the national security of many others. Calling for a global coalition against the scourge, Toure warned that any nation that ignores cyber crime does so at its own peril.

Cyber crime can be defined as crime perpetrated by the assistance, use and enablement of technology and the tools of technology. This means using the internet and computers to perpetrate crime characterised by fraud, extortion, data theft, piracy, e-mail scams, hacking, distribution of hostile software like viruses and worms, identity theft, and impersonation, among others. Information technology promotes convenience and it is this very thing that is being used to aid and abet crime.

Enumerating the cost of cyber crime, which he stressed, should not be seen in monetary terms alone, Toure stated that cyber crime needs to be squarely tackled because its effects on a nation's security has negative consequences cutting across critical data in sensitive areas of the economy, including banking transactions and national security, among others.

In Brazil, a bank once had to close down because it couldn't recover from the damage done by a group of scammers who literally hit its deposit base and brought it down to zero. In Nigeria, a country which has been identified by experts as the weakest link in the battle against cyber crime, the antics of the yahoo yahoo boys known as yahoo yahoo millionaires has raised a new generation of lazy youths who spend hours on the internet perfecting their game and literally killing their prey. Though the killings are not physical but financial, but the fact is that the damage it does to the innocent and gullible can figuratively been likened to death. That a lot of innocent people have fallen into their well-laid traps is not in doubt. Back in those days, the boys and their godfathers, the 419 kingpins used to target foreigners alone, but the game has changed now and nobody is spared. Nigerian traders, journalists, bankers, lawyers, government officials and the masses are all targets and anyone who falls prey to their antics will be taken to the cleaners.

The advent of the mobile revolution has given birth to a new e-culture characterised by eBanking, ePayment, eLearning,ePassport, eImmigration etc and has brought technology to the doorsteps of many like never before. Digitalisation is fast becoming a way of life with the Nigerian people. Though technology brings growth and development, it also enables fraudulent practices. IT promotes convenience and it is this very characteristic that is being used to aid and abet crime today. Criminals no longer need to be at a crime scene, but can perpetrate crime especially through the cyberspace from anywhere at anytime. Technological advancement has opened the door for the bad and ugly to come in and undesirable elements now take advantage of the digital culture to do harm to the unwary. Children can no longer safely surf the net because of the danger it poses to the unsuspecting, businesses have to be careful to secure their business and even government bodies as well are not left out and critical data can be compromised at the drop of a hat.

The GSM revolution which opened the floodgates of seamless communication in the country has become an incentive to those with a propensity for fraud. The blessing of the growth of the nation's telecoms space has almost been turned into a curse by some Nigerians, particularly the youths. This is because access to the net unlike before is now at their fingertips and they don't need to go looking for a café . Such a facility could be literally set up in their private apartments where they can browse for a kill to their hearts' content.

While some blame the economic situation which has seen a lot of youths without gainful employment as a reason for the upsurge in cyber crime, others disagree and blame the greed and endemic corruption in the Nigerian society which celebrate mediocrity and makes heroes out of crooks without bothering to ascertain the source of their wealth.

Students, drop-outs and never-do-wells live large and suddenly acquire state-of-the art cars and properties without anyone raising an eyebrow. The fact that a few months before they got the cars they were practically begging for a living did not alert people to the fact that its only through winning a lottery that such happens is swept under the carpet and the young men are celebrated by all including family members and friends and foes alike for the seeming good fortune of the scammers. Sad, but that is the reality now in the country. Our institutions of learning have become a den of yahoo zee boys who rule the internet with their prowess for perpetrating fraud and falsehood. Toure, the ITU boss believes that the way out is through securing the cyber space by a powerful coalition that will involve all the nations of the world. Stating that access to information is a fundamental human right, he expressed the belief that a few criminally minded should not be allowed to erode the benefits of effective communication. Pledging the commitment of the ITU in eradicating cyber crime, Toure called for a legal framework and the harmonizing of laws that will halt the spread of cyber crime. Already in Nigeria, a bill on cyber crime is before the National Assembly.

The government should also show more commitment to the eradication of cyber crime by passing the cyber crime bill that has been before the National Assembly for the past three years according to a former attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Chief Akin Olujimi who presented it to the House into law.

Without an effective legal Act against cyber crime, the efforts of the government to address the scourge will be a mirage. For instance, a few years ago, the Nigerian government established a cybercrime working Group called the Nigeria Cyber Working Group (NCWG). The NCWG is an inter-agency body made up of all key law enforcement, security, intelligence and ICT agencies of government, plus major private organisations in the ICT sector. The group has agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Nigeria Internet Group(NIG), Internet Services Providers' Association of Nigeria (ISPAN); National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), etc saddled with the task of eradicating the scourge from the nation. Though this group has been on for about four years, the enormous weight of cyber crime seems too big for the group to contain because in spite of the existence of the group, Nigeria has been identified as the weakest link which means more still needs to be done. For example apart from passing the bill into law, there should be an increase in public enlightenment programmes to sensitize Nigerians on the ills of cyber crime and its negative effects with warnings on how to detect it and steer clear from it.

The passage of the bill is critical and will strengthen the fight against cyber crime in the country and show the world that Nigerians are really concerned about the fight against the menace of cyber crime. It makes no sense for a country to say it wants to fight cyber crime without an effective legislation in place to deter fraudsters and protect the internal and external cyberspace of the country. The passage of the bill is the first step in the right direction and its passage would mark the beginning of the war against cyber crime in the country and tell the world that Nigeria is really ready to tackle the menace posed by cyber crime.

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