The Cyber Security Challenge Nigeria (CYSEC NG), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in its bid to consolidate on efforts to forestall the high rate of incidences of cyber-attacks affecting the globe and
Nigeria inclusive, organized its Annual National Hacking and Cyber security conference, powered by Upgraded Era Solutions Limited – A Nigerian ICT and Cybersecurity Company.
The 2018 edition of the conference was with the theme: “Forensics and Defense against Next-Gen Cyber Frauds” took place Tuesday, 30th to Wednesday, 31st of October, 2018 at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture in Abuja, served as a platform for a `National Hacking Challenge’ to identify Nigeria’s next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
With last year’s outbreak of NotPetya, Ransomware—malicious programmes that encrypt your files and demand a ransom payment in bitcoin to restore them, it became one of the most talked about forms of malware of 2017. Yet at the same time, the actual rates of malware infection began to crash down around the middle of the year, until by December 2017 it represented only about 10 percent of infections.
One of the most common methods of email malware infection is through phishing attacks, which are becoming increasingly targeted. Out of the 1,300 IT security decision makers surveyed for Cyber Ark Global Advanced Threat Landscape Report 2018, 56 per cent said that targeted phishing attacks were the top security threat they faced while 77 per cent of organisations in the world were victimised by one (or more) successful cyber-attack in 2017. 17 per cent of breaches were social attacks, 76 per cent of the breaches were financially motivated while 12 per cent involved privilege misuse.
CYSEC NG has over the years been playing a vital role in assisting Nigerians nationwide scale –up skills in cyber security as well as provides direction towards building a viable Information Technology, cybersecurity professional base for Nigeria and Africa.
CYSEC NG 2018 gathered over 500 IT professionals in the industry, government agencies, law enforcements public and private sector, NYSC corp members and secondary schools where not left out. Dr John Alhassan, Head, Cyber Security Science Department, Federal University Minna, Niger State delivered the keynote paper presentation, Invited InfoSec practical demonstrators includes Mr Victor Idonor – DG, CYSEC NG, Mr Oluwafemi Osho (Lecturer, Cyber Security Science, FUT Minna), Mr Emmanuel Olaniyi – Cyber Analyst CyberDome, Ridwan Oloyede (A legal practitioner with Famsville Solicitors, Lagos), Oluwatobi Adedotun, Ositadinma Tochukwu – CYSEC NG South South Coordinator, and Umar Zubairu (Founder, Flash Click) showcased and demonstrated a range of hacking techniques and methods commonly used to disrupt or gain entry into IT systems cutting across digital forensics, wireless hacking, android phone hacking, cloned website phishing attacks using social engineering toolkit, cyber drills, spoofed emails forensics against financial frauds, war driving and the role and state of cybersecurity in Nigeria, law and policy in building a safer cyberspace.
The practical demonstration sessions examined the attack vectors hackers use in achieving their goals and offering solutions and guidance on how to mitigate these attacks. Special highlights of CYSEC NG 2018 includes Practical demonstrations on Cyber Attacks and Countermeasures, Capture The Flag (CTF) Hacking Competition, Women in Cybersecurity, Catch-Them-Young (CTY) for Secondary School Students Introduction into Cybersecurity, Cyber Drills, exhibitions, panel and networking sessions. The Women In Cyber Security session featured (Dr. Amina Sambo-Magaji – Acting National Coordinator of the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), Dr. (Mrs.) Omowunmi Hassan High Tech Centre for Nigerian Women and Youths, Bolu Joy – Head of Training Upgraded Era, Olamide Thompson-Odeneye – IT Sales Experts, Simbiat Ozioma Sadiq, a Cyber Security Analyst, Nicole Progress Egbogu – InfoSec Enthusiast) The hacking competition comprised of challenges that include password cracking and code breaking, steganography, remote attacks, web security, reverse engineering, cryptography, penetration testing, binary exploitation, forensics and many more.
Ten (10) teams in total participated in both the online prehackathon and onsite hackathon. 5 teams for the onsite hackathon where Team OXD won the 2018 Ultimate CYSECA. Hackers, participants and attendees won Training and certification exam vouchers worth over Two Million Naira (N2,000,000.00) which includes Certified Ethical Hacking (CEHv10), Certified Secure Computer User (CSCU), Corporate training workshops and over 50 Cybersecurity books titled: The Internet and You, by Yemi Ademiluyi.
The annual national hacking and cybersecurity conference is organized by Upgraded Era Solutions in collaboration and partnership with government and non-government agencies, which brings brings together a variety of top level participants from across various sectors; including Students, financial services institutions, energy, telecommunications, manufacturing, IT professionals, developers, decisions and policy makers, governmental officials, experts, consultants, industry leaders, law enforcement officials, academics, networks security and other stakeholders with an interest in the cybersecurity space.
For more details, kindly click the links below:
CYSEC NG 2018 Day One (1) Gallery
CYSEC NG 2018 Day Two (2) Gallery
Special thanks to all the great people behind this vision and success stories together we have been able to achieve, thank you for your support, endorsement, guidance, advise, words of wisdom, recommendations. We see a bright future for InfoSec Community in Nigeria and Africa.
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Signed
Director-General CYSEC NG
