…site inaccessible 21 days after hack
Barely one week to the release of Nigerian inflation data that would shape decisions at a crunch monetary policy meeting this month, the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) website remains inaccessible.
Data showing price levels in December would be due Wednesday, 15th January, but as the country’s official data site remains inaccessible, many are wondering whether or not the NBS would break its own tradition of timely releases of critical economic data.
The website which was compromised following a cyberattack on December 18 had the statistics agency warning the public through its official X account to disregard any information on the platform until the situation was resolved.
But 21 days later, the official site where decades of data used in key policy decisions and trends are obtained remains down with no actual date of restoration announced.
The Bureau’s official X handle which at varying times was used to disseminate information has also remained inactive since it disclosed that the site was hacked last December.
Read also: Concerns as NBS website remains shut three weeks after hacking incident
Joel Ichedi, the agency spokesperson said in a recent interview that the delay in the restoration of the website was due to a thorough investigation of the incident and the extended holiday period, which has hindered timely recovery efforts.
“An important website like ours cannot be shut down indefinitely. The public can rest assured. We are working on it and very soon it will be working,” Ichedi said with no definite date mentioned.
The prolonged downtime has seen researchers and other data users scratching their heads as to where to source information that may be used in shaping decision making or proffering solutions to myriad issues confronting Africa’s top oil producer.
“Since the NBS was hacked on December 18, 2024, getting their recent and past reports has been difficult. As a researcher that uses and works with data on a daily basis, this is annoying. I just have to work with some of the reports I downloaded in the past,” said Bunmi Bailey, head of research at SBM Intelligence in a post on LinkedIn.
“Hopefully it’s resolved this week because the December inflation rate is expected to be out on January 15 (next week Wednesday),” Bailey added.
The website hack which occurred days after its newly redesigned website was launched was said to have been linked to the release of a controversial Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey that revealed Nigerians paid a total sum of N2.23 trillion ($1.5 billion) in ransom in one year.
An X user who identifies as Ayomide @Ayomide_nm said: “It’s been three weeks since the ‘hack’ occurred. One would think the whole Internet was hacked. It shouldn’t take too long to restore a website. If the website was indeed hacked, restoration should be within a few hours or a day.”
While the protracted recovery of the website may trigger loss of confidence in the country’s data repository, it also raised significant concerns about the vulnerability of the bureau’s digital infrastructure, especially considering its crucial role as Nigeria’s primary source of statistical data.
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