Sambo Dasuki, the National Security Adviser (NSA), has ordered the nation’s defence community to address five identified cyber threats against Nigeria to avert major Internet-based attacks against the country, a key policy document obtained by Technology Times has revealed.
The NSA says that the nation’s defence community should explore the Internet, which he call the fifth domain after the four traditional battlefields of land, sea, air and space, to combat any possible online attack launched against Nigeria.
“Cyberspace is open for diverse engagements. In contrast to land, air, sea and space, cyberspace poses unique difficulties in terms of the non-boundary and universal nature of its networks, which does not recognize the conventional rules- based international systems. State actors, organized syndicate criminals, insurgents and terrorists can exploit cyberspace for their own intended purposes”, according key directives of the Cyber Security marching order by the NSA sighted by Technology Times.
Under the plan, the nation’s security community now places key emphasis on impact that threats coming from the Internet could have on Nigeria particularly as “the nation is operating progressively and actively in cyberspace.”
According to the Cyber Security Policy documents reviewed by Technology Times, the NSA’s Office has directed relevant players in the nation’s defence apparatus to zero in on five identified priority areas in waging battles against threats homing in on Nigeria.
The nation’s security planners reckon that the new Internet frontier can no longer be ignored because “cyberspace has become an essential component of 21st century activities. As critical and non-critical activities are increasingly migrating to cyberspace, globalisation and the increasing interdependence of nations has also put significant pressure on nations to continuously look for ways of ensuring that the domain remains safe for players utilising it for social, economic and national lives.”
However, the nation’s security forces reckon that cyber warfare is a totally different ball game from the traditional four domains that they have operated before now.
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