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Banks lose N159bn to e-frauds –NIBSS

By on August 31, 2014

Banks in the country have lost approximately N159bn to electronic frauds and cybercrime between 2000 and 2013, according to a report by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlements Systems.

The Office of the National Security Adviser disclosed this in a paper entitled ‘Economic and security implications of Denial of Service attacks’.

It also stated that a report by a Nigeria-based Information and Communications Technology company, New Horizons Limited, had shown that Nigeria loses N413bn ($2.5bn) annually to cybercrime.

The paper, which was obtained by our correspondent on Thursday, was delivered by a top official of the ONSA, Prof. Soji Adelaja, at the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum in Lagos.

It read, “A Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlements Systems report shows that the banking industry lost N159bn to cybercrime between 2000 and 2013.

“As of 2012, Nigeria was ranked as the 55th most dangerous country in cybercrime in the world, according to Host Exploit’s Global Security Report.” While global losses to cybercrime is said to be over $400bn annually, New Horizons Limited puts Nigeria’s losses at $2.5bn annually.

According to the paper from the NSA’s office, DoS attacks, which are classified as ‘cyber attacks’, are malicious attempts to make a server of a network resource unavailable to users.

The DoS attacks can be accomplished through any number of methods, including flooding the target resource with external communication requests.

The paper said research had indicated that DoS attacks largely originate from people with a grudge or complaint against a website, company and/or government, competitors looking to increase market share, criminal elements that systematically extort website owners, or cyber terrorists.

It stated that data on the amount of money lost from DoS attacks in Nigeria was not available yet.

However, the paper noted that the potential losses were high.

It read, “Implications could include a meltdown in the financial system-banking systems and financial platforms; attacks on ATMs nationwide could create a run on banks; and compromise of the nation’s electricity management system could send the sector into shock, disrupting services and forcing a blackout.

“With more online shops, e-government and e-business platforms as the CBN’s cash-less policy becomes increasingly adapted, the sabotage of online authentication techniques would cripple the ability of individuals to conduct transactions.”

It added that organisations with centralised IT functions could record a high failure rate when conducting operations via their computer network, undermining the ability of the organisation to function, noting that international saboteurs could bring Nigeria to its knees.

According to the Office of the NSA, Nigeria is relatively dependent on computers and a DoS assault against the nation can have debilitating financial, economic, social and political implications.

As a result, the paper recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NSA’s office needed to carry out a joint study on the impact of cybercrime and the extent of DoS attacks.

It suggested that the study should also identify priority cyber security issues.

Other recommendations include, “the revamping of laws and policies in order to prescribe very stiff penalties on hackers and service disrupters; the establishment of a national committee to investigate how we deal with foreign cyber criminals; and a DoS crisis management plan that would guide the actions of multiple agencies in the event of a devastating attack.

The paper also recommended “the implementation of a policy by CBN whereby banks and the federal government contribute to a cyber-technology fund to promote technology and education; a series of guidelines from CBN guiding the activities of institutions and setting new minimum standards in cyber security.”

 

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