Be proactive on IT security, education, ESET boss urges Nigerians

Mr. Olufemi Ake, country manager, ESET Nigeria, and Ghana, has said that competent approach among internet users in the country, particularly on information and communication technology (ICT) will help curb growing trend of security threats.

Commenting on IT security in the country, Ake complained about increased cases of breaches, adding that most users are more reactive to the matter.

ESET had in its 2017 report cautioned that common occurrence in recent times has been the emergence of malicious apps in the official iOS and Android app repositories.

The company described the phenomenon as first seemed extremely rare but that has unfortunately become more common over time.
According to internetlivestats.com, which estimates Nigeria’s population at 186,987,563, there are 86,219,965 internet users in the country as at 2016 at the penetration rate of 46.1 percent.

Commenting on IT Security Education, Ake said it is more reactive than proactive as the majority of users are only aware of the need to secure their devices after a breach, adding that very few in this climate place IT security as a top priority, including business decision-makers.

“ESET often advise device owners, businesses owners across major sectors to be proactive with first-level IT security measures as it saves a fortune to be safe than sorry. IT Security breaches cost organizations a lot more such as data loss, productive downtime, huge financial loss, government fines, customer lawsuits, brand smearing, etc.

“In addition, ESET Mobile Security app is available on app stores with features that constantly scans, cleans or quarantine malicious apps on user devices. It is highly recommended these days as most organizations rely on mobile devices to carry out day-to-day businesses.

“On apps, I don’t think organizations have more than one ‘same’ app with different versions as the apps are updated version-wise without being duplicated on the play store or other app markets,” he said.

He stated that the only risk would be that an app may be cloned with malicious content which may ultimately pose threat to a user’s device and data when and if downloaded.