Security
Recent Increases in Cyberattacks Could Be Due to Leaked Cyber “Superweapons”
Sourced from Forbes Check Point Research (CPR), the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions globally, warns of a further increase in cyberattacks and thinks it could be partly down to major powers leaking, what they refer to as, ‘cyber superweapons’. “We have long warned that organisations of all sizes are being bombarded by a global fifth generation of cyber threats (Gen V). These are multi-vector cyber threats that can cause fatal damage and irreparable harm to the reputation of the compromised company,” said Pankaj Bhula, Regional Spokesperson at Check Point Software. “However, most companies are only secured against what we call third-generation threats (Gen III), which are threats that we’ve known about since the...
Ogun council poll: OGSIEC cancels nomination fees for chairmanship, councillorship candidates
Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has cancelled the nomination fee deposit for Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates in the forthcoming local government elections in the state for all political parties. OGSIEC’s Chairman, Babatunde Osibodu, made this known while fielding questions from newsmen in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Saturday. He explained that though, OGSIEC had in the guidelines released earlier, stipulated the payment of non-refundable deposit of N200,000 and N100,000 by intending candidates nominated and cleared to contest the chairmanship and councillorship elections in the LG poll, the fees have now been cancelled by the electoral body. “You will recall that we had earlier asked male Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates to make a non-refu...
Kwara to establish multi-billion naira cancer treatment centre
Kwara State Government has announced plans to establish a multi-billion naira Cancer treatment Centre to be situated at the Ilorin General Hospital. This is contained in a statement signed by Alhaji Bashir Adigun, the Special Adviser, Political Communication to Kwara Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. According to him, the N2.5 billion recently donated to the state by the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative (ASR Africa) will form a huge chunk of funding for the modern facility. The governor said the centre along with the 12-bed intensive care unit, the modern dental and eye care facilities recently added to the general hospital was part of the huge investments. He said that these facilities would convert the General Hospital to a research facility (teaching hospital) for the take-off of the medica...
Inside the Mind of Cybercriminals – How Threat Actors Think
Cybercriminals come in many different flavours, but the majority of them are in it for one thing: financial pay-off. They want the money that comes with offering their tools or services, selling stolen data, extortion like ransomware or plain fraud. And they all have one thing in common – your organisation is on their radar. This is why, says Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa, it is critical to understand how cyber criminals operate, the tools they use and the approaches they take to embed robust security within the organisation. “With ransomware going rampant and victim organisations paying up to millions of U.S. dollars to the extortionists, this problem is just going to get worse. The U.S. government recently announced that ransomware is a national cybe...
Chris Alao-Akala, Sunday Dare applaud Senator Ajimobi’s legacies
Former Gov. Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State and Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Akin Dare, have applauded the late former Governor of the state, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi’s legacies. The duo, in their separate statements made available to newsmen on Friday, described the late former governor as a focused and committed statesman. Newsmen report that Ajimobi died on June 25, 2020, following reported complications arising from COVID-19 infection. Ajimobi, who died at the age of 70, was the first civilian governor to rule the state for two consecutive terms. NAN also reports that the late Ajimobi was, until his death, the Aare of Ibadanland and Deputy National Chairman (South) of APC. Alao-Akala, in a statement signed by his Media Aide, Tolu Mustapha, said that he now...
Amnesty: Nigerian government highly sensitive to criticism
The country director of Amnesty International (AI) Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, says the federal government is “highly sensitive to criticism” and only focuses on appearances. Ojigho stated this on Thursday while addressing the topic “Is Freedom of Speech in Danger in Nigeria?” during a virtual conversation, tagged ‘Thursday Talks’. The virtual conversation, which is a monthly programme focused on engaging thought leaders, was moderated by Adeboye Adegoke, senior programme manager at Paradigm Initiative. The AI country director described the government’s ban on Twitter and its proposed amendment to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) code as attempts to gag criticism. “What we are seeing is a government that is highly sensitive to criticism and, as such, seeks to work more on the public re...
Why Hospitals Are Such Lucrative Targets for Cybercriminals
Image sourced from Alpine Security. Ransomware attacks are on the rise. After a surge in remote working and with employees accessing organisational networks in ways that aren’t always perfectly secured, cybercrime has spiked over the past few months as malicious parties have taken advantage of the sudden move to life in lockdown. Opportunistic hackers have found a particularly tender target to focus on: hospitals and healthcare providers. Across Europe, hospitals are being taken down on a far too regular basis, causing IT systems to fail – sometimes with fatal consequences. Of all the industries to attack, why healthcare in particular? While all organisations suffer when cybercrime strikes, with lives at stake cybercriminals know hospitals can’t afford any downtime. This means those in the...
Oyo governor urges council chiefs to strengthen intelligence gathering in their areas
Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has urged local government chairmen in the state to upscale intelligence gathering in their respective council areas. A statement issued on Wednesday in Ibadan by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, quoted Makinde as stating this while closing a two-day retreat for local government chairmen, vice-chairmen and heads of local government administrations (HLAs), on Tuesday evening. Newsmen report that the retreat was held at Ilaji Hotel and Sports Complex, Akanran, Ibadan. The governor said that the local government chairmen needed step up their game on the issue of security and take responsibility for the security of their areas. Although he stated that security was the responsibility of everyone in the society, the governor, however, said tha...
South African Investors Lose $3.6-Billion in Massive Crypto Scam
Image sourced from Shutterstock. AfriCrypt, a South African cryptocurrency investment company, has reportedly defrauded around $3.6-billion in investor funds after the company made claims that its trading systems had been hacked. Investors in AfriCrypt reportedly count amongst South African celebrities and other high profile individuals. In a matter of hours the staggering monetary amount, around R54-billion, seemingly disappeared without a trace on 13 April. $3.6-Billion in Stolen Cryptocurrency Shortly after claiming that its systems had been shut down by a hack, AfriCrypt’s teenage “directors”, brothers, Ameer and Raees Cajee (17 and 20, respectively) allegedly transferred all investor funds from their South African bank account before fleeing to the UK, reports Independent Media. AfriC...
Broken Endpoints in Your Organisation’s Cybersecurity: The Role of Superior Endpoint Detection
Stefan van de Giessen, General Manager: Cybersecurity at Networks Unlimited. Networks Unlimited is applying a ‘broken window, broken business’ principle when looking at an organisation’s internal cybersecurity posture, in order to have a positive effect on its business processes. The moral of the ‘broken window’ story, which has been studied by psychologists, is that once a window in a building is broken, people then feel that they are able to damage the property even further, and ultimately loot and steal from it, with impunity. “When we put this into a cybersecurity context,” says Stefan van de Giessen, General Manager: Cybersecurity at Networks Unlimited, “this means, in essence, making sure that you have no ‘broken windows’ or gaps in your security through which uninvited elements coul...
PoPIA Deadline Extended – Information Officer Registration Portal Broken
After a series of technical glitches with the Information Regulator’s registration portal for information officers looking to achieve compliance with the PoPI Act, the 1 July 2021 compliance deadline has been scrapped. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Information Regulator said that this decision is also based on numerous concerns raised by responsible parties regarding the registration process. “The regulator is currently looking into alternative registration processes and will communicate this in due course. We understand that our portal malfunctioning has caused a lot of anxiety and panic and for that, we really do apologise,” Information Regulator chair Pansy Tlakula said. Deadline Extended by 1 Year With this, the regulator has extended the applications for prior authorisation ...
U.S. blocks websites linked to Iranian disinformation
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday blocked some three dozen websites, many of them associated with Iranian disinformation activities, a U.S. government source said, adding an official announcement was expected. The source in Washington spoke after notices appeared earlier on Tuesday on a number of Iran-affiliated websites saying they had been seized by the United States government as part of law enforcement action. Iranian news agencies said that the U.S. government had seized several Iranian media websites and sites belonging to groups affiliated with Iran such as Yemen’s Houthi movement. Some sites later started to display as normal. The website of the Arabic-language Masirah TV, which is run by the Houthis, read: “The domain almasirah.net has been seized by the United States Governm...
