Data Privacy Breach: NDPC to  Prosecute Offenders Next Year

Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja 

The National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) stated yesterday that it will from next year begin the prosecution of data privacy breach offenders, saying that the formative stage where it concentrated on creating awareness was over.

NDPC’s Head, Legal Enforcement and Regulation Department, Babatunde Bamigboye, made the disclosure in Abuja during a one-day cybersecurity awareness campaign with the theme, “Utilising AI-Powered Services for Proactive Cybersecurity.”

The event was organised by SOPHOS UK in collaboration with SPOKES Network and Net-Trix Solutions, to enhance networking with industry experts and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of cybersecurity.

Bamigboye stated that because of the implications of data privacy breaches in Nigeria, the commission took time to create awareness, adding that beginning from next year, the Commission would prosecute any data controller or processes that breach the Act .

He noted: “At this moment we have investigated quite a number of cases and in terms of prosecution; as you know as a lawyer that means going to court but we haven’t taken any matter to court.

“This is the formative stage; we know the implication for the country as a whole. And usually when you talk about prosecution as well as it involves some criminal activities. So as of this moment, what we have concentrated on is to create awareness. 

“But from next year, we will step up around this area of enforcement. What we have done is that we have taken remedial actions against certain data controllers, processors who defaulted under the Act.” 

He assured investors that the Nigerian cyberspace is safe for digital transactions.

“Nigerian cyberspace is safe, otherwise we won’t be having a smooth flow of digital transactions in Nigeria. It is safe but not without threats and we are doing our best as a country to combat threats,” he said

The Sales Engineer at SOPHOS Nigeria, Christopher Odutola, in his presentation noted that 100 per cent it was impossible to guarantee in cybersecurity protection hence the need to take proactive measures.

“A lot of people will come to you and tell you we can give you 99.9% or 100% cybersecurity. It’s not true.

“Nobody can provide 100% security anywhere in the world. So what they can do, like I said earlier, is to reduce the risk for you. So, how much risk they are reducing, it’s difficult to tell.

“It’s not possible to reduce 100% risk anywhere in the world. So what we provide is what we call a cybersecurity breach protection warranty. What that warranty covers is that if you are protected by us, if we are managing your SOC as a service, and there’s a data breach or there’s a ransomware attack, for example, you lose your files. We will pay back up to a million dollars in response costs,” he said.

He underscored the importance for organisations to reduce risk of cyber threats to secure the cyberspace.

“There’s risk to business, risk from downtime, risk from attackers, from 419, from scammers and the rest, trying to filter that network.

“So, the risk is always going to be very high. And for us as cybersecurity professionals, we’re trying to do as much as possible to reduce that risk.

“So all the various security controls that we put in place, like having an antivirus, firewall, email security, cloud security, network security, and the rest, is just for us to reduce that risk. So we need to focus on reducing that risk. So what we are seeing right now is a lot of risk from even third-party suppliers, from vendors.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Net-Trix Solutions, Harrison Oloye, said the event was aimed at creating awareness of the threat available on the cyberspace for users to be aware and know how to deal with possible attacks.

“What we did as Net-Trix Solutions limited in conjunction with Spokes Network is to create an awareness and let the public and the private sector know what and how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in fighting cyber threats,” he said.

The Head Business, SPOKES Network Ms. Sifon Ufot emphasised the need to be proactive on cyber security measures.

“We have to stay cyber safe is because those guys (hackers) working behind the scene are not joking, they work 24)7 so for us we have to stay proactive. With the help of AI it helps us to stay proactive; it gives information before hand and even stop some attacks from coming to us,” she stated.