The TFHost, a website hosting company, has called on Nigerians to guide their data from cybercriminals by ensuring healthy online practices.

Mr Victor Matthias, Head of Sales, TFhost, who made the call in Abuja at a media briefing, said that there was need to engage the internet wisely, generate income from it, while having a personal internet experience and data protection.

He noted that social media platforms had great impact on digital marketing, creating visibility for online businesses, but had its limitations.

According to him, most social media platforms accessible to Nigerians were internet spaces owned by other individuals who they cannot guarantee the safety of their data.

Speaking on online businesses, customer protection, Matthias said that they had different initiatives channeled at providing more Nigerians with internet access.

"Nigeria is an evolving country in terms of internet penetration, especially with hand-held devices, people are coming into social media and then to websites and blogs. The market is expanding and for us, we are a company whose customers are online but we have to source for them offline.

"A lot of people that need this are offline and we have to reach them offline too. We have different initiatives like with schools to enhance their access on the internet beyond social media. If you want to do online business, to an extent, you need a blog or a website for people to take you seriously.

"You can't do business and leave it on social media, social media is essentially not your space, it is somebody's space, the person is just giving you access," Matthias said.

He said that if Facebook decide to close down the business, everyone won't have Facebook accounts again but when someone has a website hosted somewhere, it is their private space on the internet.

Matthias also cautioned Nigerians that while using the internet, there was need to ensure cybersecurity, which attacks were inevitable but could be avoided.