The Nigerian government, through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, has revealed that during the presidential election, a total of 12,988,978 attacks from within and outside Nigeria were recorded.
According to the minister, Isa Pantami, daily threats to public websites and portals totalled 1,550,000, with the figure rising to 6,997,277 on the presidential and National Assembly elections day.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy's spokesperson, Uwa Sulaiman, a series of hacking attempts were recorded during this period, including Distributed Denial of Service, email and IPS attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing.
The statement stated that the minister had directed all parastatals to increase their 24/7 monitoring of networks and traffic for potential attacks from February 24th to February 27th, 2023, and that Pantami had inaugurated the Ministerial Standing Committee on Advisory Role for the Protection of Nigerian Cyberspace and ICT Infrastructure on February 24th, 2023.
The committee, chaired by the NCC Board Chairman and comprised of the CEOs of the NCC, NITDA, and GBB, was tasked with monitoring telecommunication infrastructure for the successful conduct of credible, free, fair, and transparent elections; developing and implementing plans to enhance the resilience of critical digital infrastructure against cyber threats; designing procedures and using technologies to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber-attacks; and developing the NCC's cyber security strategy.
The committee was also tasked with developing a comprehensive risk assessment, analyzing the nation's current cybersecurity capabilities, and identifying gaps that must be addressed, all while providing professional advice to the government on the effective use of digital technologies in the conduct of government business.
The statement reads, “As part of its mandate, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy is expected to ensure adequate protection of Nigeria’s cyberspace to a level that citizens will have confidence in digital services. This mandate aligns with the goals and objectives of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).
“In line with this mandate and in our efforts at supporting the initiatives of securing the Nigerian cyberspace, the parastatals under the supervision of the Ministry have established Cybersecurity Centers, namely, the National Information Technology (NITDA)’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), and Galaxy Backbone (GBB)’s Security Operations Centre (SOC).
“These Centers were established between 2020 and 2022 in line with the Honourable Minister’s policy directives and have been monitoring Nigerian cyberspace for potential threats and taking appropriate actions to mitigate them, both individually and collectively as well as in collaboration with other stakeholders.
“It is worth noting that in the run-up to the 2023 General Elections, threat intelligence revealed an astronomical increase in cyber threats to Nigerian cyberspace.
“Generally, threats to public websites and portals averaged around 1,550,000 daily. However, this skyrocketed to 6,997,277 on Presidential Election Day.
“The Committee’s activity started on 24th February 2023 and ended on 28th February 2023. During this period, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and IPS attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing.
“A total of 12,988,978 attacks were recorded, originating from both within and outside Nigeria.”