Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida, has declared that collective action is what would be required to protect telecom infrastructure across the country.
He said there was need for inter-sectoral collaborations as a means to enhancing protection against increasing cyber-threats, including online fraud and cyber espionage.
The NCC boss stated this in his keynote address at the opening session of the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Protection and Resilience Workshop for policymakers and sector regulators, held in Abuja.
Maida also called for a speedy implementation of the Presidential Order, signed in July by President Bola Tinubu, to ensure the protection of the telecom infrastructure in the country.
He stressed “the urgency of implementing the Presidential Order on CNII Protection and called for collective action to safeguard telecommunications infrastructure.”
The NCC EVC/CEO stated: “The CNII Order emphasises resilience -a principle that will ensure our networks can recover quickly from incidents, maintaining the trust of the public and businesses that rely on telecom infrastructure daily.”
Maida spoke on the essence of stakeholders’ collaborations on achieving the set objective of protection the CNII across the country.
“A Trusted Information Sharing Network (TISN) will be established to enhance information sharing and risk assessment related to Critical National Information Infrastructure,” he said.
Maida said the TISN will be under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), in collaboration with key stakeholders from the government, information infrastructure operators and relevant private sector organisations.
“This network will foster a crucial communication channel for sharing threats and vulnerabilities, promoting decentralised risk assessment and building capacity to implement effective security measures,” Maida added.
