No IT security threat to INEC database – NITDA

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said there is no any threat of cyber security attack to the database of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Federal Government’s IT regulator agency disclosed this in a statement issued by its spokesperson Hadiza Umar in Durban, South Africa on Thursday.

‘’ The Agency is not aware of any plan to disrupt the 2019 general election but is proactively working with INEC and other stakeholders to ensure the security of election and voting IT Infrastructure’’, Hadiza Umar said in the statement.

Hadiza Umar, however said, the agency had been improving the country’s cybersecurity readiness through Cybersecurity Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT).

 She said CERRT had also been gathering necessary information and intelligence to counter the activities of devious cybercriminals.

The efficient containment strategy of the Agency during the global incidents of WannaCry and Petya virus attacks shows the country’s growing readiness in cybersecurity, according to her.

She said, ‘’The attention of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has been drawn to the news making the rounds in some media outlets ascribing certain statements to Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the Director General/CEO of NITDA.

‘’The statement, for all intent and purpose, is quoted out of context. The Director General was invited to the ISACA Abuja Chapter event to speak on Security and Privacy: Towards the Development of a Vibrant National IT Governance Structure. Due to other commitments, the Director General is out of the country on official assignment and was represented at the event by Dr Usman Gambo Abdullahi, Director IT Infrastructure Solutions. The extant portion of the speech is reproduced below for the public’s attention:

If proper IT security measures are not put in place, terrorists may disrupt the national elections by hacking into INEC voter register database; they can disrupt the banking system by hacking into and taking over the Bank Verification Number (BVN) platform. They can critically disrupt the national economy by cyber-jacking the Treasury Single Account (TSA) software etc.’’

This statement, made at an IT Security Conference, was aimed at explaining the dangerous possibilities of a lax national cybersecurity system. ‘’