The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, has said cyberspace threats and attacks should not be taken lightly, considering the fact that cyberattacks have increased by over 300 per cent in Africa.
The minister said had the cyberattacks on Nigeria infrastructure during the presidential and governorship elections succeeded, the impact would have been devastating.
He described as alarming the over 16 million cyberattacks recorded from within and outside the country against the nation’s infrastructure before, during and after this year’s general election across the country.
Pantami, who spoke while declaring open a two-day workshop organised by his ministry in partnership with World Bank for cybersecurity stakeholders at the Digital Economy Complex, Mbora, Abuja, reiterated that Nigeria recorded over 16 million cyberattacks in the general election.
The minister said all of them were blocked due to the sophisticated infrastructure the government had put in place.
“It is not the numbers of attacks that matters here but the ability of government institutions to block them. If we had just three cyberattacks and two out the three succeeded, it would be very dangerous and devastating for our country.