National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has taken new steps with stakeholders in the sector to make the cyber space of Nigeria more secured, which is part of the ACT setting up NITDA.

General of NITDA, Cleopas Angaye said that cyber threat has become a serious economic and security challenge in Nigeria.

Angaye said that the Nigerian first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was appointed as the United Nation UN- International Telecom Union (ITU)Impact Global Champion, Child Online Protection on May 10th, “the import of the appointment came on me that it is a big call on Nigeria to serve and lead the world not only on child online protection but also the entire gamut of Cyber security”.

As could be recalled last year 2012, the death of one Miss Cynthia Osokogu on face book, the daughter of a former Military General in the hands of so called friends she met on the internet.

According to him, this is why NITDA has decided to partner with UN-ITU-IMPACT and office of the First Lady and IMPACT West Africa in a kind of Government-Private-partnership arrangement to establish state of the Art ITU-IMPACT Regional Centre for Cyber security office in Abuja before the end of 2013.

He said that the office will be run with the expert support from private sector as managing consultant which will make the centre become self-sustaining and endure for eternity, from the centre located in Abuja, the entire African Region will enjoy Cyber security support. “Organized crime is increasingly employing information and communication technologies to facilitate their illegal activities particularly in relation to money laundering, identity crime and terror activities.

“Nations are vulnerable to the loss of economic competitiveness through the continued exploitation of ICT networks and the compromise of intellectual property and other sensitive commercial data which has potential to undermine confidence in the digital economy”, he said.

Angaye noted that Cyber security is not just an issue of national security but also one of economic security, stressing that some strategies can be adopted to provide highly secured cyber space which includes, Government ensures its information and communications technologies are secured and resilient, businesses operate secure and resilience information and communications technologies to protect the integrity of their own operations, the identity and privacy of their customers, threat awareness and response- improve the detection, analysis, mitigation and response to sophisticated cyber threats, with a focus on government, critical infrastructure and other systems of national interest.

He noted that confronting and managing these risk must be balance against the need to promote efficiency and innovation to ensure that governments are able to realize the full potential of the digital economy, adding that the aim of deploying an advanced cyber security policy is the maintenance of a secure, resilient and trust electronic operating environment that supports national security and maximizes the benefits of the digital economy.

“Our use of the Internet has also created new opportunities for espionage both national and industrial along with criminals who seek to access our personal and corporate secrets, steal our resources and intimidate internet dependent government and agencies.

“With the rapid escalation in the intensity and sophistication of cyber-crime and other cyber security threat, it is imperative that government, business and the community are aware of the severity of cyber security risks, and commit to work together to protect what has become a vital component of the economy and society”, said Angaye.