Following the steady global increase in digital and cyber activities, especially in the financial sector, it is expected that activities of cybercriminal will also increase as technologies evolve. To this end, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has partnered with the Cybersafe Foundation and the Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of the Nigeria Financial Industry (CCISONFI) to put structures in place in a bid to create awareness of cybersecurity among Nigerians. This move will pursue the achievement of cyber resilience in the ecosystem.
Speaking at a Media Parley to flag off the campaign, Executive Director of Cybersafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley acknowledged the changing tide in cybercrime and the need for awareness: “With Social engineering being the method of choice by cybercriminals to perpetuate electronic fraud in the country, efforts to educate customers of financial institutions on cyber hygiene best practices, especially the most vulnerable, must be stepped up.”
She noted that the launch of the new campaign, NoGoFallMaga, in partnership with CCISONFI will enable them join forces to reach the 40million Nigerians who currently access financial services across the country, raising mass cybersecurity awareness and consequently reducing the success rate of cyberfraud attacks against customers.
In his speech at the launch, Director of Banking Supervision at the CBN, Haruna Mustafa noted that cyberattacks are major threat to financial system stability, not only through their impact on one institution, but also through their impact on multiple components of the financial system.
According to him: “The development of robust mechanisms to ensure that financial institutions have in place the necessary safeguards to protect against loss of data, fraud and cyber incursions in their respective systems was part of the Governor of Central Bank’s 5-year policy thrust 2019-2024.
Mustafa, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Banking Supervision, Adedeji Adetona Sikiru, further noted that as a result of the rise in digital payments which is facilitated by Fintechs, Open banking and emerging technologies, there has been a marked increase in cybersecurity threats.
He however disclosed that the CBN has taken some measures to improve cyber-resilience of supervised institutions including the issuance of the CBN Risk-Based Cybersecurity Framework and Guidelines for Deposit Money Banks in 2018, but that the campaign to also reach customers will help achieve the aim of curbing cyberfraud.
In his response, CCISONFI Chairman, Abumere Igboa explained that CCISONFI became necessary due to the need to have an industry body supporting the CBN in providing guidance and advisory services related to Cyber, Data and Information Security across the Nigerian Financial & Payment ecosystem as the cyber threat landscape continued to evolve.
“This initiative looks at tackling cybercrime that poses a threat to customers & the Nigeria citizenry in conducting reliable and safe financial services. As Chief Information Security Officers, we have also witnessed an increased adoption of digital/technology platforms post the Covid-19 pandemic crisis by our different financial institutions for delivering innovative financial solutions, expanding its operations, and being able to reach both existing and potential customers.
He said the campaign will help in “successful achievement of our target objectives which include reaching more than 40 million customers in the first two years of its launch and finally delivering awareness contents and messages in major Nigerian languages including pidgin English.”
Harping on the need for a sustained campaign, Staveley said: “There is clearly a need to include an aggressive cybersecurity awareness campaign to compliment other proactive and reactive measures being taken to curb cyberfraud. However, we must collaborate across the financial eco-system, consolidate resources and strengths, and reach across the aisle to sectors like the media for support to drive cybersecurity awareness for significant impact.”
Further laying out the strategy for the campaign, Staveley explained: “In the #NoGoFallMaga campaign, we will be working to significantly reduce the success rate of cyberattacks by raising mass awareness of the top 5 prevalent cyber fraud attack methods and safe cyber hygiene best practices, to all customers of Nigerian Financial Institutions.”
She said some of the activities will include propagation of the #NoGoFallMaga awareness afrobeat song; creating and disseminating simple, relatable, actionable and engaging cybersecurity awareness content to customer base through all bank owned and bought media channels and touch points; and disseminating through multiple channels of print, broadcast, and online media to aggressively create awareness and educate the public on cyber hygiene best practices.
She further noted that the vehicles of information dissemination will include Digital Media Traditional Media; Influencer Marketing; Offline events and activities and Bank-owned platforms such as ATM’s Gallery, Man-trap doors, banking hall TV screens, bank-owned online TV, social media platforms, and other public facing assets of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Payment System Providers (PSPs).
CyberSafe Foundation is Nigeria’s foremost non-Governmental organization in the information security domain, on a mission to facilitate pockets of changes human capacity and behavioural changes that ensure inclusive and safe digital access in Nigeria. the Foundation’s Flagship initiative #NoGoFallMaga, also adopted as the name for this cross-financial industry cyber awareness campaign, is a national movement of young people, working to combat preventable digital fraud with consumer-centred sensitization and education. Digital fraud in this context includes, email deception, phone-based scams, online fraud – particularly where cybercriminals impersonate trusted organizations. We leverage fun experiences and content, to catalyse the decline of cyber-related fraud, one trickle of knowledge at a time.
