Expert laments dearth of cyber security skills in Nigeria
Nigeria is faced with a national cyber security skill crisis and may be faced with inability to defend itself against cyber-attacks if nothing is urgently done to address it, President of the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) Remi Afon has said. He said the cyber security skills shortage in Nigeria was occurring right […]
Nigeria is faced with a national cyber security skill crisis and may be faced with inability to defend itself against cyber-attacks if nothing is urgently done to address it, President of the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) Remi Afon has said.
He said the cyber security skills shortage in Nigeria was occurring right as the volume and sophistication of cyber and physical attacks continue to rise.
Afon noted this in a statement on Monday, saying the sophistication of the technology and tactics used by online criminals and their nonstop attempts to breach network security and steal data have outstripped the ability of cyber security professionals to address threats.
He said it is about time Nigeria invested in cyber security capacity development for the new generation in order not only to protect government but business enterprises as well.
"The battle means that tertiary institutions curriculum on computer science has to be redesigned to accommodate for cyber security courses. At the moment, companies looking for more cyber security staff are not going to find them, they are going to have to create them,” he said.
Organisations according to him should be willing to recruit and train fresh graduates on the required skills to defend their enterprise against cyber-attacks.
While raising alarm over increasing attacks on cyber infrastructure in the country, he decried the age long neglect of cyber security in the country, stressing that the next national security crisis may not be terrorist attack on infrastructure but cyber crisis that could shut down critical infrastructure in the country.