Nigerian government urged to support individuals interested in Cybersecurity

Stakeholders in the Internet Sector have charged the federal government to support individuals willing to go into cybersecurity with incentives to grow the industry.

This according to them will turn cyber threat to an opportunity that will create an industrial outfit for the country.

The charge was made at a sensitisation workshop on the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy 2021 for the Academia and Education Sector in Abuja.

Member of the National Cybersecurity Advisory Council, Segun Olugbile noted that cybersecurity is now seen as a skill in which many youths explore, some positively and others negatively.

He also urged government to provide the right standard that will formalize the skills of those interested in cybersecurity.

“There are two types of unemployed youths in Nigeria. We have uneducated unemployed and educated unemployed.

“The educated unemployed are sophisticated. If you don’t engage them, they will provide alternative for themselves and cyberspace internet provides such alternatives. If they are not properly channeled or motivated, they will use cyberspace for whatever intention” he added.

Olugbile explained that cybersecurity is an all inclusive programme and urged that every sector key into it.

Also, Dr Steven Bassey, a Cybersecurity guru from Nassarawa State University stressed the need for a change of attitude to sanitise the cyberspace.

According to him, “culture and hygiene is like rule of law and application of the rule of law, so, if we form a good culture and have a good hygiene our industry, we should be able to apprehend threats and the risks exposure especially in this global dispensation that everybody is advancing because the space is no respecter of anybody.

“Every industry should look into forming the cyber culture, changing our attitudes and behavior towards compliance and making sure that we have standing policies that protects our network systems, our personal systems to protect anybody from emiment threats”.