Nigerian banks and their boards have been enjoined to collaborate and share information and experiences to combat cybercrime and improve security of funds in the financial industry.
Speaking at the 2019 Bank Directors’ Association of Nigeria (BDAN) Conference in Lagos, bank directors, operators in the financial technology space and security experts stressed the need for banks to share information on attempted and successful attacks as way to mitigate the effectiveness of hackers.
President of BDAN, Mrs Osaretin Demuren, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Guaranty Trust Bank, noted that sharing information would help the industry demystify the activities of hackers and cyber criminals thereby making them less effective in the financial sector.
She stressed that in corporate governance, the board is the first line of defence, she said “ignorance or lack of knowledge is not an excuse so we need to be well equipped. Gone are the days when you have to manage information. We need to share information so that we demystify what this is all about.”
‘’Cyber security is one of the top risk that is being faced not just in the financial sector, but in all sectors. However the impact is more felt in the financial sector; because once you hack into one, all the others are open. So it is very important that people are aware of cyber risk and the damage it can do businesses,” she added.
Also the Managing Director and Chief Excutive of Wema Bank, Mr Ademola Adebise called for more collaboration to ensure that all participants both the banks and customers are well boarded up against the activities of cyber criminals.
He noted that when information is shared with other banks by a bank that has been affected, other banks can trace the trend and avoid being victims of the same crime.
Managing Director and Chief Executive of Computer Warehouse Group, Mr Austin Okere on his part lamented the attitude of banks who hide details of an attack whether it was successful or not.
