The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has taken its enlightenment campaign against cybercrime to Niger State. The campaign designed to sensitise telecommunications consumers on the rising wave of the scourge took place at the 26th edition of the Consumer Town Hall meeting held recently.
A statement issued by Nnamdi Nwokike, NCC Director of Public Affairs, said the meeting with the theme, ‘Mitigating the effects of cybercrime: The role of telecom consumers’, was used to enlighten consumers on the threats of cybercrime, its various forms and measures to be taken to ensure they were protected from cybercriminals and hackers.
Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC who was represented by Bashir Idris, Head, Government and Legislative Unit of Public Affairs Department at the Commission, noted that there was a need for adequate consumer education in view of the rising rate of cybercrime fueled by the deepening broadband penetration in the country, the statement said.
She also stressed the need for individual and corporate consumers of telecoms services to be abreast of cybercrime trends and forms and make conscious efforts to ensure safe use of connected devices so as to avoid becoming victims of cybercriminals.
According to her, Information
and Communication Technology (ICT), with Internet playing a key role in
interconnectivity of devices, has become a constant feature of individual lives
and businesses across the world. “It is common knowledge that the use of Internet
has become part of telecom consumer’s daily activities whether at home, in the
workplace or any social setting. Smartphones and other smart devices used by telecom consumers are a
storehouse of data carrying sensitive information about the user, his or her
family, businesses, associates and daily interaction as well as financial
transaction details,” she said.
She noted that while the Commission were striving to increase
access to the Internet for positive engagement through its various initiatives,
hackers and cyber criminals were also deploying sophisticated systems to
intrude into people’s connected devices, to perpetrate crime. She,
however, added that the Commission would not relent in its awareness campaign to
keep telecom consumers well informed.
Ismail Adedigba, Head, Information and Reference Unit,
Consumer Affairs Bureau at NCC, said the Commission was in the process of
establishing an Internet Industry Code of Practice, whose objective is to come
up with robust framework to sanitise the cyberspace for telecom consumers.
Jibe Adul-Aziz, representative of Wheel of Hoe, a consumer advocacy group, presented the lead paper in which he further enlightened consumers on types of cybercrime (phishing & online scams), hacking, malware, child soliciting & abuse, and identity theft, among others, even as he gave safety tips to keep consumers safe form cyber-attack.