{"id":4819,"date":"2026-10-01T20:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T20:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4819"},"modified":"2026-10-01T21:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T21:30:45","slug":"cybersecurity-2026-nitda-advocates-collective-action-lists-measures-against-cyber-vulnerabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4819","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity 2026: NITDA advocates collective action, lists measures against cyberthreats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>Nigeria&#8217;s National Information Technology Development&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; officially launches National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026, emphasising the cybersafety campaign serves as a national call to action for all stakeholders in the country&#8217;s digital ecosystem <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has officially launched National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026 under the central theme, \u201cTogether for a Safer Cyberspace\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The event is coming at an suspicious time when digital technology increasingly, powers everyday life, commerce, and public governance across the West African country.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"uktlJFqpkL\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4823\">NCC, ALTON open zero-rated data access to educational platforms for learners<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cNCC, ALTON open zero-rated data access to educational platforms for learners\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=4823&amp;embed=true#?secret=tR7UMMiRus#?secret=uktlJFqpkL\" data-secret=\"uktlJFqpkL\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>ConsumerConnect<\/em> reports NITDA disclosed the month-long campaign serves as a national call to action.<\/p>\n<p><strong>IT Regulator: Securing Nigeria\u2019s digital landscape a collective responsibility<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The IT sector regulatory agency also stated that digital safety is no longer solely the responsibility of IT professionals, government agencies, or security experts.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, NITDA emphasised that securing Nigeria\u2019s digital landscape requires an active, shared commitment from every citizen, business, and institution participating in the online ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, with the rapid global shift towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated systems, modern cyberthreats have evolved beyond standard phishing.<\/p>\n<p>According to the agency, recent worldwide security trends have indicated a sharp rise in sophisticated risks\u2014including AI-driven social engineering, deepfake impersonations, voice cloning, and fraudulent QR code attacks (\u201cquishing\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Hadiza Umar, fnipr,<\/p>\n<p>Director of Corporate Communications at NITDA, in a statement, emphasised that building a resilient cyberspace depends heavily on individual vigilance and proactive personal security practices.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some guardrails against vulnerabilities in cyberspace, by NITDA <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In mitigating these emerging cyberthreats and safeguarding personal and organisational digital assets, NITDA advised all Nigerians to adopt core cyber hygiene habits through the following precautionary measures:<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Use Strong, Unique Passwords<\/em>: Avoid repeating passwords across multiple accounts, and leverage secure password managers to create and store complex passphrases.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)<\/em>: Add a vital secondary layer of protection to all personal, professional, and financial accounts to block unauthorised login attempts.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Maintain Software and Device Hygiene:<\/em> Promptly install security patches and Operating System (OS) updates to protect devices against known system vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Safeguard Sensitive Financial Credentials:<\/em> Never share One-Time Passwords (OTPs), personal identification numbers (PINs), or online banking log-in details under any circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Exercise Caution with AI and Emerging Online Tools: <\/em>Practice strict data privacy by avoiding the upload of sensitive personal, financial, or proprietary corporate information into public AI models or unfamiliar online platforms.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Verify Links and Media Before Interacting: <\/em>Stay alert to suspicious links, unknown attachments, and unsolicited requests for personal info\u2014especially those using urgent language, synthetic audio, or deepfake visuals.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Practice Responsible Social Sharing: <\/em>Mind what is posted publicly on social platforms, as oversharing sensitive details can enable targeted social engineering attacks.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Maintain Frequent Offline and Cloud Backups:<\/em> Keep crucial personal and organisational data safely backed up to ensure swift recovery in the event of ransomware or system disruptions.<\/p>\n<p>NITDA as well stressed that through its computer emergency response structure, the IT sector regulator &#8220;remains dedicated to equipping citizens and organisations with the tools, knowledge, and frameworks necessary to mitigate digital risks, report incidents, and foster a secure, inclusive digital economy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The agency, therefore, urged Nigerian digital consumers to connect and engage by following official cybersecurity updates, awareness tips, and threat advisories across social media: @NITDANigeria.<\/p>\n<p>For further inquiries and incident reporting:<\/p>\n<p>Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT.ng), and Web site: www.cerrt.ng; E-mail: cerrt@nitda.gov.ng, and Phone: +234 817 877 4580.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*Nigeria&#8217;s National Information Technology Development&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; officially launches National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026, emphasising the cybersafety campaign serves as a national call to action for all&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Photo: CBT Nuggets","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-markets","category-regulators"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/National-Cybersecurity_Awareness-Month-2026-cc.png",672,360,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/National-Cybersecurity_Awareness-Month-2026-cc-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/National-Cybersecurity_Awareness-Month-2026-cc-300x161.png",300,161,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/National-Cybersecurity_Awareness-Month-2026-cc.png",672,360,false],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/National-Cybersecurity_Awareness-Month-2026-cc.png",672,360,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/National-Cybersecurity_Awareness-Month-2026-cc.png",672,360,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/National-Cybersecurity_Awareness-Month-2026-cc.png",672,360,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" rel=\"category\">Markets<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=8\" rel=\"category\">Regulators<\/a>","tag_info":"Regulators","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4819"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4866,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4819\/revisions\/4866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}