Need for banks’ collaboration in fight against cyber attacks

As some of the Nigerian Banks are experiencing cyber attacks, there is a need for banks to collaborate more in intelligence sharing. There is a need for banks representatives to come together and freely discuss incidents of cyber attacks and relevant learning points/solutions. The regulators also need to facilitate this collaboration via formal structures and mechanisms as have seen in other developed economies. 

Also, there is a need for organisations to develop capacity so as to be able to better face cyber challenges. There is need for constant training and retraining in different areas of cyber risk management which spans cyber crime defense, detection and response.

Consequently, KPMG in Nigeria last week, organized a cyber crime roadshow in Lagos  with the aim to sensitize organizations and relevant regulatory agencies and also create awareness on the new threat actors in cyber crime and the means of effectively protecting and responding to cyber attacks. The roadshow featured thought leaders and subject matter experts in cyber crime from KPMG UK including Malcom Marshall (Partner and Global Lead, Cyber Security), and George Quigley (Partner, Cyber Security,  KPMG UK).

Speaking at the roadshow in Lagos, Malcolm Marshall, Global Head of Cybersecurity, KPMG, U.K, said, “We are seeing business increasing using digital channels particularly banks and an increasing level of cyber attacks and an increasing level of sophistication of these attacks.”

Marshall said two things that needs to happen in Nigeria more and as well as other countries is around capability and collaboration, adding that so in many other countries there are university courses on cyber security which organisations are able to recruit from and build a skill base that needs to happen in Nigeria.

“Cyber attackers collaborate a great deal to finds ways to attack banks and other organisations and individuals which translates that into money for themselves. So the good guys need to work harder at collaborating so that when organanisation is attacked they quickly pass on the information as quickly as possible.”What we want to see more in Nigeria is banks collaborating because what we know about banks in Nigeria today is that when they attack, they are very shy or not willing to tell other banks they have been attacked and therefore the other banks would be able to know how to protect themselves.”

Olumide Olayinka, Partner and Head of Risk Consulting Nigeria, said What we want to see more in Nigeria is banks collaborating because what we know about banks in Nigeria today is that when they attack, they are very shy or not willing to tell other banks they have been attacked and therefore the other banks would be able to know how to protect themselves.”

Olayinka explained that what happens is that once the criminals attack one bank and becomes successful, they go to another bank. “So what we are trying to do is that we are talking to banks and regulators on how these banks can better collaborate. And I think it is a key element in trying to fight these organised criminals from attacking the livelihood of Nigerians.”

“Nigeria in recent times almost all the banks have been attacked with the same kind of mechanism and the same kind of people and we are saying one of the ways to deal with this is better collaboration,” he said.

As part of the roadshow, KPMG held meetings with some of the stakeholders in the industry who are charged with the governance of cyber security. Specifically, KPMG met with some Executive Directors in charge of Operations and IT, Chief Risk Officers, Chief Compliance Officers, Chief Internal Auditors, Chief Information Officers (CIO), Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) and other key practitioners at some of the leading banks and conglomerates.

KPMG emphasized the need for different organizations to strengthen their cyber defence capabilities and also stressed the need for every organization to assess the maturity of its cyber security programs in terms of protection, detection, and response so as to be able to appropriately invest in the real areas of need.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE