As the pace of digital transformation ramps up across the world with increased use of data and cloud technology by organisations and governments, technology experts have called for a renewed focus on cybersecurity to ensure data protection and privacy.
According to John Obaro, the Managing Director of financial technology and human resources solutions powerhouse, SystemSpecs, the increasing spate of cyber-attacks and the role of malicious insiders indicate that traditional approaches to data security are no longer sufficient. Therefore, individuals, organisations and governments must be one or more steps ahead of cyber attackers.
Obaro spoke recently during the second edition of the Art of Technology conference, tagged “Smart Data, Smarter Lagos” which held in Lagos.
Organised by the Lagos State Government in conjunction with the private sector, the event facilitated multi-stakeholder discussions, exchanges and collaborations aimed at identifying and leveraging the outcomes of data and its insights to the development of smart cities.
According to Obaro, malicious actors now have access to billions of interconnected devices with ransomware, phishing, data leakage, hacking and insider threat as some of the most common global scourges to the cyberspace.
He listed artificial intelligence and deep learning, behavioural analytics, embedded hardware authentication, blockchain cyber security, and the zero-trust model as some of the various security technologies available to tackle the threats.
“Already, many progressive organisations that are security-conscious are adopting some of these measures to ensure they avert direct and third-party security breaches,” Obaro said.
The technology expert further highlighted data breaches, data loss, access control, denial of service, insecure interfaces and poor API implementations, as some of the security challenges faced by organisations and government today in the use of cloud. He, nevertheless, encouraged the continued use of big data, video analytics and predictive analysis in order to detect and resolve cyber security threats, predict and avoid the possibilities of intrusion and invasion, and take intelligence-based action, amongst other benefits.
John Obaro founded SystemSpecs, one of the oldest technology companies in Nigeria, 29 years ago. Since then, the company has grown into an African giant, expanding internationally and creating customer-centric solutions that include Remita, an innovative payment solution; HumanManager, a human resource and payroll management solution; and Paylink.ng, an ecommerce platform for SMEs.
Other speakers at the Art of Technology conference include Michael Seibel, CEO, Y-Combinator; Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria; Lisa Da Silva, Principal Investment Officer, IFC; Demola Sogunle, CEO, Stanbic IBTC; and Tomi Davies, Collaborator-in-Chief, TVC Labs.
