Efem Nkanga
6 August 2008
Lagos — In a bid to tackle the pressing issue and threat of cyber-crime and cyber security to the nation, the Presidency is throwing its weight behind the National Conference on Cyber Crime and Cyber Security set to hold in Abuja .
THISDAY gathered that the Presidency is deeply conscious of the threat of cyber crime and is putting strategic measures in place to ensure that cyber crime and cyber security is not only an integral part of its processes but placed on the priority list of its deliverables.
In particular, it is utilising all available resources to ensure that the planned success of Vision 2020 and Mr. President's seven point agenda is secured from any unforeseen impact of cyber crime.
However, to achieve this, other schools of thought say, will amount to a monumental task, due to the enormity and complexities of the deeply routed technological challenges posed by cyber crime and cyber security in the global and within national cyberspace.
A statement made available to THISDAY disclosed that the conference aims to tackle the negative impact of cyber-crime on the nations economy. Stakeholders are agreed that the issue of cyber security is so colossal that it has the capability of wiping out development gains of a nation and retarding her growth by many decades - in terms of GDP, if proper steps are not taken.
"Today, cyber crime and cyber security have become perhaps the most critical issues on the global development agenda for almost all governments. Many countries are concerned about the menace because their survival as a nation revolves round the dynamics of Information and Communications Technology.
ICT is now accepted, not only as the common currency, but indeed, represents the centre of gravity of the new world and new economy of the universe, the confab organisers stressed.
As nations migrate deeper into the unknown tunnel of the digital revolution, no nation will be capable of achieving the objectives and the critical tasks of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) nor fulfil the targets set for her national development vision and plans, unless she tackles and resolves the challenges of cyber crime and ensures that commensurate infrastructure and human resource capacities are built to effective respond to the emerging monster. It is within the dynamics of the available global statistics on cyber crime that the assumption that Nigeria faces a monumental challenge with respect on how to respond effectively to the recurring decimal of cyber crime and cyber security.
The Theme of the conference which is "National Digital Security: Engaging the Challenges of Digital Criminality, & the Future of Nigeria" - the role of Federal Government of Nigeria - " is indeed a significant wake up call for Nigeria policy makers at National, State and Local Government levels - who are mandated and responsible for not only for protecting the life and property of the Nigerian citizenry, but indeed for safeguarding and sustaining its sovereignty.
To protect the digital cyber space of the world as at today, it is imperative for stakeholders to put in place policies and measures that will combat cyber-attackers who are using the speed and global connectivity of the Internet to make national boundaries irrelevant, and leave little in the way of electronic evidence that can be used to track or trace them. The statement reiterated that the domestic and international implications of an increasingly critical societal dependence on the Internet makes necessary the ability to deter, or otherwise minimise, the effects of cyber-attacks. The capability of any nation to track and trace the source of any attacks on its infrastructures or its citizens is central to the deterrence of such attacks and hence to a nation's long-term survival and prosperity. An acknowledged ability to respond, track and trace both domestic and international attackers can pre-empt future attacks through fear of reprisals such as criminal prosecution, military action, economic sanctions, and civil lawsuits.
Therefore, in line with the tenets of Vision 2020 and the 7 point Agenda of President Umaru Musa Ya'Adua, the scheduled National Conference on Cyber Crime and Cyber Security now officially confirmed to hold at the Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, from 18-20 August, represents a strategic imperative for the actualisation of the 7 point Agenda - particularly, the aspect on security which is referenced and partly reproduced below:
" SECURITY - An unfriendly security climate precludes both external and internal investment into the nation. Thus, security will be seen as not only a constitutional requirement but also as a necessary infrastructure for the development of a modern Nigerian economy. With its particular needs, the Niger Delta security issue will be the primary focus, marshalled not with physical policing or military security, but through honest and accurate dialogue between the people and the Federal Government"
According to Howard F. Lipson, of CERT® Coordination Center USA , in his comprehensive report to the US Department of State: "The creation and phenomenal growth of the Internet has spawned the emergence of a global information society. Businesses possessing highly distributed information assets can function internationally with great efficiency, exchanging information quickly and seamlessly among their divisions, partners, suppliers, and customers.
He added in the report that "Governments use the Internet to provide information to their citizens and to the world at large, and they will increasingly use the Internet to replace manual methods of collecting information and providing government services".
Governmental use of the Internet will increasingly extend to international information sharing and collaboration. The scientific, engineering, and educational communities are all using the Internet as an indispensable tool for collaboration and rapid dissemination of information on advances in research and practice at all levels of scientific and engineering endeavour. Critical national infrastructures supporting such vital areas as power, transportation, communications, banking and finance, and defence are growing progressively more dependent upon Internet-based applications.
The older, often manual, closed, and proprietary methods of providing the essential services that societies depend on are gradually disappearing as they are replaced by cheaper, open, more efficient, and highly distributed Internet applications. All of the benefits that the Internet and the global information society can provide, including support for the most basic and essential services that nations depend on, are subject to disruption by Internet-based cyber-attacks that use the global computer network to cross international boundaries with ease. Historically, attacks on a nation's essential services typically required a physical attack that crossed the nation's borders slowly enough that it was subject to recognition and interception by that nation's military. At the very least, some physical evidence would likely be left that would allow for the tracking, tracing, and identification of the perpetrators and the tools or weapons used in the attack.
For Example: "Computer pests can potentially stop any government operation and/or banking, finance and/or other economically potential organisations in their operational tracks. Indeed, calculated infection may cause a loss of computing power. Servers and work-stations either slow down or quit responding. In addition, network bandwidth and Internet connections (a primary means of communications with other organisations), may slow so much that essential performance is affected."
The statement emphasised that many reasons abound why Mr. President should champion the attendance of the first national Conference on Cyber Crime and Cyber Security. Among other reasons it will exploit the endorsement of the global community that the Nigerian number one citizen is not only conscious of the magnitude of the problem, but has stepped forward to propagate and champion its national awareness and spur the private sector to address and respond to the embedded challenging issues as a priority for national development and particularly for the actualisation of vision 2020.
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