By Chiazo Ogbolu
Lagos – The Legal Attache, United States Consulate, Mr Rolland Avedician, says mobile banking is now target of cyber criminals.
Avedician made this known during a programme to commemorate October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month organised by the Public Affairs Section of the United States Consulate General Lagos on Thursday in Lagos.
The programme was in partnership with the International Centre for Leadership Development Nigeria (ICLDN).
“The World Wide Web (WWW) has allowed criminals to operate across borders and this is within the age gap of 19 to 29, a statistic from FBI and Interpol on West Africa.
“The criminals in West Africa are operating in an organised and well sophisticated way due to the fact that they take classes and discuss what the law enforcement agencies are doing to checkmate them.
“They are now looking for the most vulnerable targets and mobile banking is now the target of cyber criminals.
“The criminals in West Africa are becoming more knowledgeable with their mobile device to perpetuate the crime,” he said.
Mr Olatunji Igbalajobi, Chief Operating Officer, Cyber Code Ltd, said that cyber ethics should be the moral behaviour of internet usage.
Igbalajobi while speaking on the topic “Cyber Ethics”, urged the public to understand the moral implications of what they do online.
“There is need to understand the basic role of information security and the need not to share confidential information about family and business online.
“One needs to have a secure password, build cyber security resilience system, pay attention to critical vulnerabilities, avoid cyber stocking and virus propagating,” he said.
He listed some tips that would aid in improving cyber security safety in the workplace as to follow the department cyber security policies and procedures.
Others, he said, are to use department owned and approved hardware, software and removable media on department systems, be wary of social engineering and other threats carried out via email and social media.
He said that people should learn to properly mark, handle and disseminate classified information, and look for warning signs for insider threats and taking advantage of diplomatic security training centres.
He also advised that a good password should be one that was long, complex and temporary, adding that a different password should be used for each device.
