ISSAN decries absence of law to curb cybercrime

The Information Security Society of Africa, Nigeria and major stakeholders in the banking industry have lamented the absence of an appropriate law to deal with e-fraud offenders in the country.

ISSAN’s lamentation came amidst reports that the banking industry incurred a huge loss of about N159bn through cybercrime between 2000 and 2013.

In a communiqué issued at the end of a roundtable organised by the society in collaboration with an Information Technology firm, Digital Encode Limited, for chief internal auditors and chief information officers of banks, participants identified the inability of the National Assembly to pass the Nigeria Cybercrime Act into law as a major drawback in curtailing cybercrime in the country.

Meanwhile, ISSAN used the occasion to announce the establishment of a committee to act as the industry’s

pressure group to liaise with the National Assembly towards a speedy passage of the cybercrime law.

According to ISSAN, members of the committee include the managing directors of Interswitch and Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement Scheme.

It also included representatives from the Bankers Committee, the National Security Adviser and the CBN.

Other members include the president, ISSAN and the chairman, Committee of Chief Internal Auditors of Banks in Nigeria.

Noting the increasing rate of incessant attacks by cybercriminals on banks, ISSAN urged the Committee of Internal Auditors of Banks to liaise with the Committee of e-Banking Industry Heads and engage Mastercard and Visa card on EMV cards frauds in the country.

The roundtable had in attendance key industry players from Interswitch, the NIBBS, the CBN, and a wide variety of IT professionals including the chief internal auditors and chief information officers of several Nigerian banks.

It discussed incessant attacks by cybercriminals on banks, action plan for the protection of payment systems and the banking industry as a whole, the central bank’s biometric project and its impact on banks and consumers, from a security perspective.

In his welcome address, the ISSAN President, David Isiavwe, described the roundtable as a critical milestone “in the gamut of activities and efforts towards achieving total security of the banking environment in Nigeria.”

Isiavwe observed that the proliferation of e-channels, which had brought banking services closer to customers, had further increased the risk of cybercrime; hence, companies must find a more comprehensive approach to protecting their employees, core networks and IT infrastructure.

He said, “Without any doubt, companies’ assets are now increasingly becoming information-based and intangible. Indeed, most physical assets now rely heavily on information as technology now allows companies to offer more information/digital products than ever before.”

He added that as the products became increasingly intangible, there was a greater need to ensure that they were safe for use by customers and workers as well as the general banking public.

Isiavwe said, “The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving and we expect new forms of threats and attacks (including zero day attacks) to emerge with each passing day. We, therefore, need to be proactive rather than reactive.