The Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has announced the preeminent cyber security conference in Nigeria “Cyber Secure Nigeria 2022” scheduled to take place in Abuja, June 21-22, 2022, at the CBN International Training Institute, Maitama Abuja.
The conference, Mr. Remi Afon, the President of CSEAN, said today during a press conference, is hybrid so interested participants can also join remotely.
This year’s CSEAN Cyber Secure Nigeria conference theme is “Cybersecurity: An imperative in tackling insecurity in Nigeria“.
“You will all agree with me that the security threat landscape in Nigeria has evolved rapidly; terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and unknown gunmen attacks are increasing in number and sophistication.
“The March 28 Abuja-Kaduna train attack and kidnap have shown that criminals are now targeting critical national infrastructures in the process of killing innocent people. Just about a week ago, suspected terrorists attacked a church in Owo, Ondo state where more than 40 people were believed to have been killed”.
He said that while criminal elements are proving to be both resilient and adaptive to traditional security techniques and countermeasures, it is about time the country took technological approach to resolving the overwhelming security challenges.
“According to Albert Einstein, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’. Criminal elements cannot succeed in their attacks without the use of information and communications technologies (ICT), specifically, the use of mobile phones, the internet, and other electronic media they sometimes use to record their activities via video to pass their message across.
“They use these technologies to commit, incite, recruit for, fund, or plan terrorist, kidnapping, and other criminal acts”.
Afon reminded industry players and the government that every crime committed, be it terrorism or kidnapping, is preceded by a planning stage, an effective counter-surveillance program by the government will increase the chance of intervening or detecting a threat as soon as possible.
“GPS tracking, Drones, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Forensic Investigation, Lawful Interception of electronic communication as well as the use of social media to collect open-source information and digital evidence can be proactively deployed to stem the tide of insecurity”, he said.
The President of CSEAN also commended Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari for the effort being made especially as stated in his Democracy Day speech that “’our cybersecurity and surveillance systems are being upgraded to further enhance our ability to track and trace criminal elements’”.
“We need to be ahead of criminal elements through an intelligence-based system. Security is a shared responsibility therefore an effective community process should be in place, where citizens can quickly and promptly report suspicious activities in real-time”, said.
He however, said that as an advocacy group in the cyber security ecosystem in the country, CSEAN believes there is a need for increase in public awareness campaigns to effect behavioural change and encourage sharing of intelligence on potential threats and collaboration to find lasting solutions.
“Funding of terrorism, through traditional financial systems, or cryptocurrency can also be tracked and traced with the appropriate tool and actionable intelligence from financial institutions.
“Insecurity is on the rise in Nigeria, while citizens are becoming helpless. As an established and leading voice in the cybersecurity space, CSEAN seeks to open a discussion on how cybersecurity can be used as a supplementary tool to address these challenges during the conference.
“We aim to prepare participants through workshops, plenary, technical, academic, and breakout sessions on the role cybersecurity and ICT can play in mitigating our security challenges”.
“The conference will be packed with rich security and cybersecurity topics to be delivered by globally renowned experts, strengthening partnerships between domestic stakeholders – public and private – to encourage the sharing of intelligence on potential threats and collaboration to find lasting solutions”, the President said.
Sub-topics:
Also speaking, Elizabeth Kolade, Chairperson of the Conference, said discussions during the two-day event will center around:
- Cybersecurity Governance
- Protecting Nigeria’s Digital Economy – Role Of Governemnt
- Legal And Regulatory Approach To Cybersecurity In Nigeria
- Cyber Intelligence As A Tool For Enhancing National Security
- Fake News And Misinformation
- Cyber Defence Strategies
- Web 3.0 And Its Cybersecurity Implications
- Cyber Warfare & Terrorism
- Emerging Technologies & Cybersecurity
- Blockchain Technology
- Foreign Policy And Cyber Security
Kolade added that Prof Yemi Osibanjo, Vice President of Nigeria has been invited as the Special Guest of Honour while Catriona Laing CB, the British High Commisioner to Nigeria, will deliver the Keynote Address.
Speakers:
Esteemed speakers lined up for the Cyber Secure Nigeria 2022 are; Ajijola Abdul-Hakeem, Global Cybersecurity Resource; Confidence Staveley, ED, Cybersafe Foundation; Adedeji Owonibi, Blockchain Professional and Entrepreneur; Andrew Agbo-Madaki, Cybersecurity and Communication Professional; Tanwa Ashiru, CEO, Bulwark Intelligence Solutions; Dr. Nathaniel Allen, Assistant Professor for Security Studies; Raliyah Adamu (Cyber Plural); Hamzat Lateef, COO & Technical Lead, Security Engineering and Michael Fasere, Cloud Security/Cyber Security Advisor.
Others are Eyitemi Egbejule of Paystack; and Chinenye Chizea, a Consulting Security Architect.
Participation:
Follow the link here to see how to participate at CSEAN Cyber Secure Nigeria 2022.
