The Central Bank of Nigeria will be releasing a policy framework In a bid to check growing cyber crime in banks..The Chief Information Security Officers (CiSOs) of banks who disclosed this in a one week Nigerian Financial Sector Global Cyber Security Conference held at Transcorp hotel, Calabar, said with the Biometric Verification Number (BVN), “The idea is that when the framework comes out from CBN, the BVN will become a major tool to fight fraudsters. Our recommendation from this conference is that it should become an instrument to kick fraudsters out of the banking system. So those who defraud individuals in banks and other customers of banks, once the investigation proves that they are fraudsters, we believe that the other legal consideration will be taken care of by that framework”.
Giving a summary of the conference that attracted mostly Israelis and other nationals as trainers, the Leader of the CiSOs, Mr. Sam Okenye said, such framework “should become a major instrument to kick those guys out of the banking system.”
From the conference with over 95 participants drawn from various banks, Okenye said “what we noted is that low level of security awareness is a major challenge. Some customers divulge their sensitive information to fraudsters unknowingly. They put a call to them pretending to be calling from a bank and because customers have low-level awareness they disclose sensitive information and fall for fraud. So low security awareness is a challenge, which we are going to tackle as an industry, which is part of what we agreed here.”
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The Modern Challenge of Cyber-Crime
Security experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before consumers wake up to find their bank accounts read $0 – the culprit being a well orchestrated “zero day” cyber-attack. And if recent events are any indication, it is likely to be one that originates out of Russia.
Russia has become a hotbed for financial crime. Even before the recent U.S. election hack, the most sophisticated Russian cyber-gangs have long targeted the U.S. banking system and its sensitive financial data. One gang stole tens of millions from Citi in 2009 and then breached Nasdaq in 2014. It was revealed this week that the UK’s best known banks, as well as BofA and Citi, have processed $740m in a massive Russian money laundering operation labeled “the Global Laundromat.”
In response to this golden age of cyber-crime, New York State has developed cyber regulations around network penetration testing and reporting for banks, insurance companies, and broker-dealers. Similarly, the UK’s Bank of England also launched its own, intelligence-led, testing framework to help financial firms prepare for the worst.
Nigeria is following this path with the plans from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Cybersecurity Training
Banks and and other companies can take advantage of the training offered by the First Atlantic Cybersecurity Institute to provide top grade awareness programs to their staff. At the end of the online programs, the staff will have tools to ensure they have the right framework to prepare their customers for the challenges of cyber-crime.
First Atlantic Cybersecurity Institute (Facyber) is a cybersecurity training, consulting and research company specializing in all areas of cybersecurity including Cybersecurity Policy, Management, Technology, Intelligence and Digital Forensics. Facyber is based in United States. with Fasmicro as its Nigerian liaison.
The clientele base covers universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, governments, government labs and agencies, businesses, civil organizations, and individuals. Specifically, the online courses are designed for the needs of learners of any discipline or field (science, engineering, law, policy, business, etc) with the components covering policy, management, and technology.
Programs are structured as Certificate, Diploma and Nanodegree programs with deep resources to support Learners. Please see complete Facyber catalog and detailed Table of Contents.
Learn about:
– Cybersecurity Policy (Certificate, Diploma, or Nanodegree)
– Cybersecurity Management (Certificate, Diploma, or Nanodegree)
– Cybersecurity Technology (Certificate, Diploma, or Nanodegree)
– Cybersecurity Intelligence and Digital Forensics (Certificate, Diploma, or Nanodegree)