By The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy released a statement on March 14, 2023, outlining the Ministry’s actions to secure Nigeria’s cyberspace before, during, and after the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
As a follow-up, the Minister directed the Ministerial Standing Committee on the Protection of Nigerian Cyberspace and ICT Infrastructure to strengthen the efforts of the three cybersecurity centres under the Ministry: NITDA, NCC, and Galaxy Backbone Limited.
The Committee, which was set up before the elections, had several important responsibilities. These included:
- Monitoring telecommunications infrastructure to ensure smooth elections.
- Developing plans to protect critical digital infrastructure from cyber threats.
- Implementing procedures to prevent and respond to cyber-attacks and ensure quick recovery.
- Assessing the country’s cybersecurity capabilities and identifying areas of improvement.
- Advising the government on using digital technologies effectively for the elections.
The Committee, as directed by the Minister, closely monitored the cybersecurity centres from March 17 to March 20, 2023.
During this period, there were a total of 3,834,244 cyber-attacks, including DDoS, email, and IPS attacks, as well as attempts to break into systems. Here’s the breakdown of the attacks:
- March 17: 1,046,896 attacks
- March 18: 1,481,847 attacks
- March 19: 327,718 attacks
- March 20: 977,783 attacks
Interestingly, cyber activity during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections was lower than during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, which is expected because the presidential elections attracted more attention from cyber attackers.
The Honourable Minister believes that measures taken to strengthen Nigeria’s cyber defence played a big part in this outcome.
The Minister also acknowledged the support of President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration in helping Nigeria’s transition into the digital economy, which has been essential for these successes.
