FEDERAL POLYTECHNNIC ILE-OLUJI, ONDO STATE

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

SEMINAR TOPIC: CYBERSECURITY AND DATA PRIVACY

PRESENTER:

NAME

FPI/CSC/21/000

SUBMITTED TO:

MR. IBIYOMI M. A.

COURSE CODE: COM 222

COURSE TITLE: SEMINAR ON THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPUTER AND THE

SOCIETY
INTRODUCTION

With the emergence of digital infrastructure, numerous economic and social transactions are

increasingly being digitized. Online banking, social networking, smart grids and industrial

networks are examples of activities now relying heavily on digital data. The amount and

speed at which digital data is generated and stored keeps increasing exponentially. While

most data are trivial, a significant amount will contain sensitive information or personal

identifiable information (PII) and needs to be protected. This requires clear physical and

digital cyber security defences to ensure data remain private (Dervojeda, 2014)

From a cyber security perspective, threats will come from both external and internal actors

whose capabilities are rapidly improving. As organizations adopt digital transactions, they

will embark on a digital journey to transform their business model. In many cases, they don’t

have the experts in-house to protect customer and transaction data. Canadians have never

been so affected by cyber criminality as the reported rates of cybercrimes, including fraud

and identity theft, are increasing dramatically. Critical infrastructure such as water supply and

electricity are also facing increasing risk.

From the data privacy point of view, the increased digitalization of business and social

transactions is creating new opportunities for cyber criminals to breach the data integrity of

organizations, allowing them to exploit personal or critical information for fraud, espionage

and sabotage. Although data privacy regulations must be modernized to adapt with new

technologies, they must not hinder digital innovation or block the implementation of those

new technologies. This dichotomy between digital innovation and data protection thus fuels

the debate around the required amount of regulation in the cyber space.
CONCEPT OF CYBERSECURITY

As most components of modern society now rely heavily on online services, individuals and

institutions alike become more exposed to the risks of cyber criminality. As such, the amount

of data generated and stored online every year increases exponentially and represents an ever-

growing opportunity for cyber criminals. Reliance on online services such as social networks,

e-commerce platforms and digital banking radically increases the number of potential entry

points into IT systems and thus enables increases in data theft, fraud and extortion.

Technologies that are ubiquitous, interconnected, and allow easy access to the Internet have

become deeply integrated in everyday life. As a result, we increasingly depend on cyberspace

for social, economic and political interactions. The web provides a platform for a whole range

of critical infrastructure sectors and services, such as health care, food and water, finance,

information and communication technology, public safety, energy and utilities,

manufacturing, transportation and government. Cyberspace connectivity augments all of

these critical infrastructure sectors and is therefore vital to Nigeria’s future economic growth.

As “cyberspace” has become central to the global information and communication

infrastructure, the security of cyberspace has now become a more urgent priority for

corporations and governments around the world. Cyberspace is “the electronic world created

by interconnected networks of information technology and the information on those

networks. It is a global common where more than 1.7 billion people are linked together to

exchange ideas, services and friendship. The term “cyber security,” though not defined in the

Strategy, is generally understood to encompass any measures taken to protect online

information and secure the infrastructure on which it resides (Dervojeda, 2014).

Cybersecurity refers to the measures and techniques used to protect information systems,

networks, and data from unauthorized access and theft. With more and more sensitive

information being stored and shared online, cybercrime has become a major problem

(Panchanatham, 2020). Hackers and cyber criminals can steal personal and financial

information, disrupt business operations, and spread malware that can damage or destroy

computer systems. To protect yourself from cybercrime, it's important to be proactive about

cybersecurity. This includes taking steps like keeping your software and operating systems

up-to-date, using strong passwords, and being careful when opening emails or clicking on

links from unknown sources (Gross, 2017).

Portrait of Cybercrime

The typical cyber attack has evolved over time. Understanding the present state of cyber

criminality by identifying the actors behind attacks as well as their motives, tactics and

targets is required to put into context the threats currently faced by Nigeria (Samuel, 2021)

Actor

Cyber attacks on organizations generally come from external actors (see figure 2.1).

However, breaches originating from internal actors, such as employees and business partners,

are disproportionally frequent in North America when compared with the rest of the world.

Internal actors sometimes have nefarious intentions, but there are also many circumstances in

which internal actors are unaware of the repercussions of their actions due to a lack of

training and general digital literacy (Gade, 2014). Regularly, employees fall for simple

phishing scams and inadvertently share information with the wrong people. The higher level
of data breach occurrences due to internal actors is indicative of poor digital hygiene

practices by employees handling or having access to sensitive information.

Motives

Financial gain is the main motive behind the vast majority of cyber attacks on individuals and

institutions alike. For businesses, around 90% of data breaches are motivated by direct

financial gain. The rest is mostly linked to industrial espionage targeting highly technical

sectors (Gross, 2017).

Other marginal motivations may include activism, personal satisfaction, and notoriety. For

individuals, phishing or hacking of personal credentials is usually performed with the aim of

financial gain. Other motives for stealing an individual’s credentials include attempts to

damage reputation and gain notoriety on social media during state-sponsored election

meddling attacks

Tactics

The most common tactics used by cyber criminals can be categorized into four major groups:

hacking, social engineering, exploitation of user errors and malware.

i. Hacking: Hacking often refers to brute force attacks, during which cyber criminals

attempt to find password combinations or hidden web pages by trial and error.

Hacking also refers to the simple usage of stolen credentials obtained on Dark Web

marketplaces or other cyber attack tactics. About 80% of hacking attacks use either

brute force or stolen credentials, while the rest uses vulnerability with various levels

of sophistication

ii. Social engineering tactics: Mostly refer to phishing campaigns during which cyber

criminals send mass e-mails or text messages, pretending to be a legitimate institution

during the COVID-19 lockdown, cyber criminals have impersonated the Canadian

Revenue Agency and lured people into divulging personal and banking information to

obtain Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments.

iii. Exploitation: Exploitation of user errors relies on the misconfiguration of cloud-

based storage and other tools accessible by the public, or on the misdelivery of

sensitive information, usually through e-mails sent to the wrong recipients.

iv. Malware: Malware exists in many forms but generally consists of programs

inadvertently installed on users’ devices, often through malicious e-mail attachments

or links. Unnoticeable programs designed to capture and transmit passwords or other

sensitive information are the most prevalent forms of malware. Ransomware is

another common type of malware. It threatens to publish or destroy data unless a

ransom is paid. Ransomware has flourished with the rise of cryptocurrencies as they

allow for untraceable payment methods and facilitate the laundering of cyber

criminality profits.

Target

Cyber criminality targets all participants of the digital society, from individuals and

businesses all the way to critical infrastructure and governmental networks (Dervojeda,

2014).

CYBERSECURITY STRATEGY

i. The first axis focuses mainly on the protection of the federal government’s networks

and those of critical infrastructure providers, namely in the financial and energy

sectors. The government aims to improve its detection and intelligence gathering

capabilities and to increase collaboration with critical infrastructure providers. RCMP

Cybercrime Cooperation Unit (NC3) in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for

Cyber Security (CCCS).

ii. To support cyber innovation, the federal government focuses on the development of

the necessary workforce in cyber security (through a financed work placement

program), and on the support of SMBs’ security measures (by implementing a new

certification program dedicated to SMBs). Nigeria also supports research efforts, both

in public institutions and in the private sector, through funding provided by the new

Cyber Security Cooperation Program and through conventional research funding

organisations such as the National Research Council (NRC) and the Natural Sciences

and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) under the Innovation, Science and

Economic Development (ISED).

iii. Lastly, the action plan aims to improve Nigeria leadership position on the national and

international stage. — At the national level, the government unified its expertise into

one organization. They will coordinates all efforts in cyber security (Gade, 2014). It

monitors Nigerias and international networks for cyber criminality, informs public

institutions, companies and citizens on cyber threats, and provides recommendations

to stakeholders of the digital economy. The organization is the authority on technical

matters and the point of contact for all agencies and partners to coordinate incident

response.

CYBERSECURITY CHALLENGES

Improving The Public’s Digital Literacy In Cyber Security

Cyber criminals are increasingly relying on the lack of cyber security knowledge of the

general public to perpetrate their attacks. When trying to infiltrate a company network, they
often only require a single-entry point, potentially offered by an employee falling for a

phishing scam or inadvertently downloading malware. In recent years, cyber criminals have

mastered the exploitation of these soft targets. These breaches are most often unintentional

and are made possible by the lack of digital literacy in cyber security. In fact, poor digital

literacy is a major cause of the ever-increasing level of fraud, extortion and identity theft

committed against private citizens.

Supporting Small Institutions in Their Digital Transformation

Although cyber attacks affect businesses and public institutions of all sizes, their impact is

particularly significant for SMBs and smaller public administrations such as schools and

municipalities. In fact, the cost of data breaches. It is largest for smaller businesses when

considering it on a per-employee basis. This stems from the fact that SMBs have limited

resources to dedicate to cyber security and often lack the necessary preparation and skills to

fight cyber attacks

Securing Critical Infrastructure and Governmental Networks

Critical infrastructure providers are increasingly adopting digital technologies to improve

real-time operational monitoring, better capacity management and enhanced decision-

making. This quest for increased efficiency and additional capabilities is opening the door to

more cyber attacks. Connecting industrial control systems (ICS) to the Internet allows

operators to better monitor and control their physical infrastructure from any location at any

time. However, it gives cyber criminals the opportunity to significantly harm the

infrastructure in case of a security breach. Built for longevity, these systems often run on

legacy software that may be particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks

Keeping Up with A Changing Technological Environment

opportunities and threats to cyber security. Despite not being primarily focused on security,

except for blockchain, they all have important cyber security implications and may bring new

tools to both cyber criminals and security experts.

i. AI – The power of AI is widely recognized across multiple fields but remains

marginally used in cyber security up to now. For cyber criminals, AI could improve

current attack techniques. Sifting through large amounts of data or scanning networks

to identify vulnerabilities to prepare subsequent attacks are potential use cases. Social

engineering or hacking techniques can also be improved by AI tools that can mimic

human behavior, making these tactics harder to detect

ii. Blockchain – Blockchain technology has been developed as a novel way to keep

ledger databases secure, allowing for decentralized and temper-resistant ledgers that

ensure the exact tracking of transactions.

iii. 5G – 5G networks are destined to become the backbone of future digital

infrastructure, making cyber security highly important to society. 5G builds on high-

performance 4G networks which will exist in networks for years to come. 5G

enhances existing 4G networks, enabling multiple new applications generating

massive amounts of data. The evolution of 4G networks to 5G coincides with a

network architecture shift towards software-based virtualized networks with the

potential for higher performance, flexibility, and lower latency for real-time

applications.

iv. IoT – The proliferation of IoT devices in both consumer and industrial sectors will be

further enabled by the many advancements of 5G networks (increased network

capacity, lower latency and better throughput). From connected home appliances to
 connected sensors in factories, the increasing number of IoT devices multiplies the

amount of potential entry points for cyber criminals into sensitive networks.

CONCEPT OF DATA PRIVACY

Data privacy awareness from the general public has risen in recent years around the world on

the heels of major documented data breaches and data collection abuse cases. Privacy is an

especially difficult subject to regulate in an ever-changing business and political landscape,

fuelled on one side by the quest for increased technological development and adoption, and

on the other by harrowing examples of data mismanagement.

DEFINITION

According to Kumar and Somani (2018), Data privacy refers to the protection of personal

information and data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or

destruction. This can include things like ensuring that personal information is only collected

and used for legitimate and authorized purposes, providing individuals with control over their

personal data, and protecting personal information from being accessed or disclosed without

permission. Data privacy also involves ensuring that personal data is accurate, complete, and

up-to-date, and that it is properly stored and handled in a secure manner. Cybersecurity is a

subset of data privacy that focuses on protecting data and information from unauthorized

access or attacks by hackers or malicious software. This can include things like implementing

strong password policies, using encryption to protect data in transit and at rest, regularly

updating and patching software to fix security vulnerabilities, and using firewalls and other

security measures to prevent unauthorized access to networks and systems

IMPORTANCE FOR DATA PRIVACY

data economy is driving businesses of all sizes to collect and store more data from more

sources than ever before (Hua, 2023). Data is used for a range of business reasons, including

the following:

i. to identify customers, understand their needs and provide goods and services to them;

ii. to understand the business infrastructure, facilities and human behaviours based on

data from networks and devices;

iii. to glean insight from databases and data sources;

iv. to train machine learning and AI systems.

v. Data privacy is a discipline intended to keep data safe against improper access, theft

or loss. It's vital to keep data confidential and secure by exercising sound data

management and preventing unauthorized access that might result in data loss,

alteration or theft.

vi. For individuals, the exposure of personal data might lead to improper account

charges, privacy intrusion or identity theft. For businesses, unauthorized access to

sensitive data can expose intellectual property, trade secrets and confidential

communications; it can also adversely affect the outcome of data analytics.

vii. Data privacy lapses, also referred to as data breaches, can have a serious effect on all

parties involved. Individuals affected by a data breach may find improper financial

and credit activity in their name, compromised social media accounts and other issues.

A business may face significant regulatory consequences, such as fines, lawsuits, and
 irreparable damage to their brand and reputation. With the integrity of its data

compromised, a business may not be able to trust its data and need a response plan.

CHALLENGES FOR DATA PRIVACY

According to Hua (2033), Data privacy isn't easy or automatic, and many businesses struggle

to meet requirements and counter threats in an ever-changing regulatory and security

landscape. Some of the biggest data privacy challenges include the following:

i. Privacy is an afterthought. Many businesses deal with data privacy long after

implementing a business model and IT infrastructure, leaving business and

technology leaders scrambling to understand and address complex requirements. Data

privacy should be treated as a fundamental business goal, with policies, training, tools

and IT infrastructure designed to meet privacy needs from the ground up.

ii. Poor data visibility. The old axiom, "you can't manage what you can't see," applies

to data privacy. Organizations need a clear understanding what data is present, its

level of sensitivity and where it's located. Only then can a business make decisions

about security and data privacy.

iii. Too much data. A business can be responsible for managing petabytes of data

comprising various files, databases and stores located across storage devices and

cloud repositories. It's easy to lose track of data, allowing sensitive content to elude

security, privacy and retention guidance. A business must have the right tools and

policies to manage enormous and growing data volumes.

iv. More isn't always better. Businesses are starting to understand that data must have

context and value -- retaining all data forever is expensive and presents storage,
 protection, attack and legal discovery risks. Modern businesses must set balanced data

retention policies about the amount of data collected, its value to the business and

what constitutes reasonable retention needs.

v. Too many devices. Modern businesses must embrace remote access, wireless, bring-

your-own device, IoT, smart device and other technologies. With all these moving

pieces, it becomes harder to manage those devices while controlling data storage and

access. Data privacy in this complex environment demands careful infrastructure

management, strong access controls, comprehensive monitoring and well-considered

data governance policies.

vi. Too many regulations. Any given business may be subject to data privacy

regulations at various levels, including federal, state, province and industry. An

enterprise that does business in another state, province or country is then subject to

those prevailing controls, as well. New controls appear regularly, and they can change

over time. This presents a vast, complex and fluid regulatory landscape.
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Dervojeda, G. E. (2014). Innovative Business Models: Supply chain finance. Netherlands:

Business Innovation Observatory; European Union.

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hallenges_And_Its_Emerging_Trends_On_Latest_Technologies

Gross, M. L. (2017). Cyberterrorism: its effects on psychological well-being, public

confidence and political attitudes. Journal of Cybersecurity, 3(1), 49–58.

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