The National Information Technology Development Agency’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (NITDA-CERRT) has raised the alarm over the increased frequency of cyberattacks on businesses and government organisations in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the possibility of frequent, cyberattacks on non-primary targets.
Also, the NITDA-CERRT highlighted the greater danger for countries in business with these countries’ governments, as well as businesses or countries that apply sanctions or are believed to intervene.
It urged all ministries, departments and agencies to take extra security precautions by beefing up their cyber defences and performing due diligence in identifying indicators of malicious activity that could affect their networks, assets, and critical national infrastructure.
Therefore, MDAs are advised to use the following steps to prevent such attacks: Carry out checks for possible vulnerabilities on their systems and implement appropriate remediations, always ensure all software are updated, carry out regular patches on all systems, secure and monitor remote desktop protocols and other risky services and carry out awareness on cyber security best practices to sensitise employees and users of services.
Additionally, organisations are invited to sign up for NITDA’s free web protection service, which will provide MDAs’ administrators with detailed information about the vulnerability of their web services.
A statement from NITDA urged MDAs to contact the head, NITDA-CERRT on cerrt@nitda.gov.ng or call +2348178774580 for further information and enquiries.
