Nigeria’s Commission urges organisations to adopt stronger cybersecurity measures

The Nigerian Communications Commission has urged organisations to adopt stronger cybersecurity measures in order to prevent  malware from attacking corporate networks.

A statement issued by Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Mr Reuben Muoka disclosed that the Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) urged organisations to ensure that their employees use unique passwords and enable multi-factor authentication (2FA) wherever it is supported to prevent ransomware attacks.

They also advised organisations to ensure regular systems backup.

“Ransomware is malware designed to deny a user or organization access to files on their computer until they pay the attackers.”

According to NCC-CSIRT, the advisory came after the Yanluowang threat actors gained access to Cisco’s network using an employee’s stolen credentials after hijacking the employee’s personal Google account containing credentials synced from their browser.

“Cisco reported the security incident on its corporate network but said it did not identify any impact on its business although the threat actors had published a list of files from this security incident on the dark web on August 10.”

NCC-CSIRT estimated potential damage from the incident to be critical while predicting that successful exploitation of the ransomware would result in ransomware deployment to compromise computer systems, sensitive products and customers’ data theft and exposure, as well as huge financial loss to organizations by incurring high indirect costs and could also mar their reputations.

“The first step to preventing ransomware attacks is to ensure that employees are using strong, unique passwords for every account and enabling multi-factor authentication (2FA) wherever it’s supported.

“In response to the attack, Cisco has immediately implemented a company-wide password reset. Users of Cisco products should ensure a successful password reset.

“As a precaution, the company has also created two Clam AntiVirus signatures (Win.Exploit.Kolobko-9950675-0 and Win.Backdoor.Kolobko-9950676-0) to disinfect any potentially compromised assets. Clam AntiVirus Signatures (or ClamAV) is a multi-platform antimalware toolkit that can detect a wide range of malware and viruses.

“User education is critical in thwarting this type of attacks or any similar attacks, including ensuring that employees are aware of the legitimate channels through which support personnel will contact users, so that employees can identify fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information. Organisations should ensure regular systems backup.”

The CSIRT is the telecom sector’s cyber security incidence centre set up by the NCC to focus on incidents in the telecom sector and as they may affect telecom consumers and citizens at large.

PIAK