E-payment: ‘Nigeria needs 1m cyber security experts’

from left; Directors, Caverton Offshore Support Group (COSG), Mallam Bello Gwandu and Mr. Bashir Bakare; Chairman, Mr. Remi Makanjuola and Director, Mr. Akin Kekere Ekun

As the rate of crime on the World Wide Web continues to grow every day, about 1,000,000 cyber crimes experts are required to tackle the menace in Nigeria by 2015, Chief Executive Officer of the New Horizons Ltd, Mr. Tim Akano has said.

Dependence on electronic mode of payments and transactions have been embraced by most nations following the rise of options provided by improvement in technology. But this has come with huge challenges of safety and security of online transactions.

Akano, an online transaction expert, while reacting to the appointment of  Mrs. Patience Jonathan as the world’s first Lady to become the Global Champion of Child Online Protection by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), disclosed that the more the country deepens the usage of technology in a cashless economy, the more the vulnerability of the people and the nation.

He said this is why a country like India is targeting 5 million cyber security experts between now and the next three years.

Akano said, “And as we speak, North Korea can already boast of 15,000 Cyber Security experts well trained to defend the Cyber space of their country while China has over 25 million Cyber Commandos and if Indian is targeting 5 million Cyber Security Experts, I am convinced that Nigeria needs nothing less than 1,000,000 Cyber Security Experts in the next two years - to cope with the challenges of both cyber terrorism and its twin brother, physical terrorism.”

He explained that last year, it was estimated that about $1 trillion was lost to cyber related frauds globally although only $390 billion was reported.

Akano noted that the increasing dependence of economy and governance in banking, e-commerce, military, hotel and travel booking, university registration and education, brings the challenges of security to the table.

He said the appointment and acceptance of Nigeria’s First Lady as Global Champion on cyber issues will serve as a catalyst to raise awareness of Nigeria and the government on the need to quickly put in place a sound national cyber security architecture and law that will make Nigerians doing business online more secured and reduce the incidence of child abuse - as they say ‘charity begins at home’.