By Jessica Dogo

The Nigerian Commissions Commission (NCC) and its partners have advocated stronger cybersecurity regulations, improved skills and coordinated incident response mechanisms to protect Nigeria’s critical infrastructure against emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven threats.
They made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the closing of the 2nd edition of International Cybersecurity Conference (ICSC), organised to examine cyber resilience in the age of AI.
The ​‌‌‍​‍‌‍⁠⁠‍‌‌⁠‌​‌⁠​‌​event focused on defending people, networks and nations.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the two-day conference was: “Cyber Resilience in the Age of AI: Defending Minds, Networks and Nation”.
Musa Daibu, Head, Fixed Network and Converged Services, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, NCC, in a panel discussion, said AI could strengthen cyber defence.
However, he said, it had the potential to enable criminals to execute sophisticated attacks on a larger scale.
Daibu said AI tools could improve threat detection and accelerate responses to cyber incidents, while also enabling automated attacks, sophisticated phishing and impersonation schemes to defraud unsuspecting victims.
He urged regulators to establish minimum cybersecurity requirements, develop strong technical standards and conduct periodic audits to ensure telecommunications operators complied with prescribed security measures.
He urged operators to implement risk management mechanisms and incident response plans covering disaster recovery and other potential disruptions.
He said although not all threats can be prevented, appropriate tools are necessary to address them.
Daibu said that the NCC had established a Cyber Resilience Framework for the Nigerian communications sector, supported by guide notes to help operators implement the requirements.
He, however, called for a review of the framework and its implementation guide to identify gaps in addressing emerging threats, particularly those associated with AI and machine learning.
He said accountability for cyber incidents should be shared among operators, regulators, technology providers and government, with clearly defined responsibilities for protecting networks, enforcing standards and ensuring effective recovery.
Daibu recommended that Nigeria establish minimum national cybersecurity requirements for critical infrastructure operators and develop a cybersecurity index to measure the effectiveness of safeguards and policies.
Zongo Valery, Senior Cybersecurity Coordinator at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said AI was creating new risks alongside opportunities to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure.
Valery identified shortages of specialised cybersecurity skills and limited threat intelligence capabilities as major challenges facing African countries in preparing for AI-driven cyber threats.
He urged stronger collaboration among governments, regulators and industry operators, as well as improved incident response capabilities and trusted mechanisms for sharing threat intelligence before cyber incidents occurred.
He also said that cybersecurity regulations in many countries were struggling to keep pace with AI, urging governments to adopt flexible, risk-based frameworks that could evolve with technology without unnecessarily restricting innovation.
He said the ITU was developing frameworks and standards to guide AI security.
He that Nigeria should translate its existing legal foundation into practical action through tested national cyber-resilience frameworks, mandatory security standards and coordinated incident response mechanisms.
Mrs Omoyemen Jide-Samuel, Director, Information Technology, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), warned that AI-enabled impersonation and identity fraud posed significant risks to financial institutions and public confidence in digital financial services.
Jide-Samuel said cybercriminals could manipulate voices, images and documents to create convincing but fraudulent instructions, potentially causing financial losses even when payment systems functioned as designed.
She urged financial institutions to strengthen continuous identity verification, independently confirm sensitive instructions and improve information sharing among banks, telecommunications operators, technology providers, law enforcement agencies and regulators. (NAN)

Edited by Uche Anunne