by OKORO CHINEDU
LAGOS – NIGERIA’S strategic oil and gas industry has been urged to beef up its cyber security and avoid massive potential cost to the economy if current measures fail.
According to Check Point’s African Perspectives on Cyber Security Report 2024, Nigeria continues to face one of the highest frequencies of cyber attacks in Africa, with organisations being attacked on average 3 759 times per week.
This alarming statistic highlights the urgent need for robust cyber security measures to protect critical sectors including oil and gas, finance, government and healthcare.
“Nigeria has the largest natural gas reserves in Africa, with efforts by the current Government to position the country as a global hub for gas and encourage major international investment,” said Kingsley Oseghale, Country Manager West Africa, Check Point Software Technologies.
The pending completion of the Dangote Refinery in 2025, among other industry developments, is expected to boost Nigeria’s refining capacity by 650 000 barrels a day, potentially reducing reliance on fuel imports and bolstering local economic growth.
“Given the strategic economic significance of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, it is vital that it prioritises its cyber security,” said Oseghale.
“Successful cyber-attacks on the energy sector as a whole, can lead to operational disruptions, financial losses, and the compromise of sensitive data,” Oseghale said.
Globally the oil and natural gas industry is under threat.
Last week, a US joint advisory released by the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, warned industry players to beef up their operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS)
This follows “unsophisticated” cyber actors targeting industrial systems within the oil and natural gas sectors, specifically in energy and transportation systems.
“Despite the relatively basic and elementary intrusion techniques used by these actors, the presence of poor cyber hygiene and exposed assets on these systems can escalate these threats, leading to significant consequences such as defacement, configuration changes, operational disruptions and, in severe cases, physical damage”, according to the federal government.
The oil and gas industry is a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economy, contributing about 5,5 percent to the country’s GDP and accounting for around 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings.
