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As a way of building cyber security awareness within Nigeria, creating a platform for knowledge sharing within the cyber space and also nurturing the next-generation of cyber security stars, a team of information and cyber security professionals started #NaijaSecCon.
Experts say that this year’s technical cyber security conference comes at the right time, as it is projected that the devastating effect of cyber-crime will cost about $6trillion by 2021. This is from an increase of $3 trillion recorded globally in 2015.
It is roughly estimated that about 60 percent of Nigerian companies suffered a form of cyber-attack during the year 2017, many of which went unreported for reasons, ranging from lack of knowledge of such happenings, apathy, fear of losing customers, job security etc.
NaijaSecCon 2018 is aimed at not just identifying talents, but bridging the gap between the techies and the corporate.
According to Rotimi Akinyele, lead convener, “NaijaSecCon is the first 100 percent technical cyber-security conference in Nigeria complete with live technical demonstrations and hands-on workshops anchored by some of the best cyber security researchers in Nigeria and in diaspora”.
The maiden edition, which was held in May 2017. had in attendance, key C-Level stakeholders from all critical sectors within and outside the Nigerian information and cyber-security ecosystem, sharing technical knowledge and intelligence regarding cyber security threats.
“This year, the conference highlights an array of speakers, topics and technical live demos from digital forensics, malwares, incident response, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), enterprise vulnerability management, and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) etc”, Akinyele said.
The conference would also host the finale of the ‘Nigeria Cybersecurity Competition for Tertiary Institutions Students’ popularly called the ‘Capture The Flag (CTF)’.
Akinyele, however, said that unlike last year’s competition which was open to all professionals, the 2018 CTF competition is focused primarily on identifying and nurturing the potentials of students in tertiary institutions to promote interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
This event, which is sponsored by University of Southampton, Phynxlabs and The ZoneCentre, is scheduled to take place on May 4, 2018 at The Zone Centre, Gbagada, Lagos.
Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson
