Eko Innovation Centre upskills entrepreneurs on cybercrime solutions

In bid to create solutions that will help reduce cybercrimes in Nigeria, Eko Innovation Centre has put together a hackathon event to upskill entrepreneurs across the country to build tech solutions that could drive cyber security.

Victor Afolabi, founder of Eko Innovation Centre and Curator of SecureHack 1.0, in his welcome address, emphasized the importance of cyber security and the need for innovation in addressing security threats.

He highlighted the five most efficient cyber defenders: anticipation, education, detection, reaction, and resilience.

“Security threat is much more than an IT topic and we are doing our bit at the Eko Innovation Centre to drive the growth of this ecosystem,” he said.

Oluwasolape Akinde, head of IT, GRC & DPO, Seven-Up Bottling Company Limited spoke on the topic, ‘Strengthening Cyber Security in Africa’s Emerging Digital Economies.’ in his keynote address.
Akinde spoke on the challenges facing cyber security in Africa’s emerging digital economy, best practices for strengthening cyber security, collaborations and partnerships.

“Overall, emerging technologies such as blockchain and Al have the potential to significantly improve cyber security in African countries. By leveraging these technologies, organizations and governments can improve data security, detect and respond to threats in real-time, and prevent fraud and money laundering.

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“However, it is also important to be aware of the potential risks and challenges associated with these technologies, and to implement them in a responsible and ethical manner,” he said.

Imeh Udofia, another security expert, gave a presentation on cyber-physical security, speaking on the following: Cyber-Physical attacks: An emerging threat; Cyber-physical attacks: Preventive controls; Layers of Security and Components Of Physical Security, among others.

The event’s highlight was the pitching of ideas by a finalist of the hackathon who had emerged from a process that saw teams split into groups of four and was required to work together for three weeks, brainstorming and ideating new concepts based on their focus areas which include cybersecurity, physical security, and biosecurity.

Three teams emerged as winners at the grand finale of the SecureHack 1.0 event held at the Eko Innovation Centre recently.

The hackathon launched in February garnered over 400 registrations from participants to form 100+ teams from 62 locations in four countries and across two continents.

At the end of the process, Team Nexa comprising Peter Adesina, Idris Tijani, Robinson Uche and Muhammed Musa came third in the competition to cart home the sum of N350,000 while Team Cyber Verse comprising Osonuga Steven and Akorede Rasaq clinched the second-place position to win the sum of N650,000.

Team HealthWaka comprising the trio of Omolola Oluwadara, Product development manager; Kehinde Abolaji, Technical Lead and Ozemhoya Anthonia, Biologist, beat all comers to emerge overall winners of the competition.