Cybersecurity is a Collective Responsibility – Access Bank CISO

As the internet continues to become a crucial part of our life, thereby increasing our digital presence, experts in cyberspace have disclosed that cybersecurity is a collective responsibility.

Although having a digital presence is important, it can also increase our vulnerability to cyberattacks, the Chief Information Security Officer of Access Bank, Mrs Favour Femi-Oyewole has noted.

Femi-Oyewole made this charge today at the cybersecurity training for journalists/News Media Agenda organised by Cybersafe Foundation and the Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of Nigerian Financial Institutions (CCISONFI) held in Lagos.

According to her everybody is vulnerable and vulnerability can be exploited for different motives therefore cyber protection cannot be overemphasized.

Speaking on the collective responsibility, Femi-Oyewole noted that for post-pandemic banking, underlying judiciary responsibilities must be maintained in the face of the changing operational landscape.

Femi- Oyewole warned that cyber-attacks would be the next post-Covid pandemic saying that it is critical for businesses and people to begin building resilience and backups for their systems, platforms, and apps. She urged organisations to check their ability to bounce back should they suffer any attack.

“If anything happens to you, how quickly can you bounce back? Have you checked your resilience, do you have a backup”, she asked.

According to her, integrity, confidentiality, and availability of a good cybersecurity system must be put in place by organisations as part of their cybersecurity strategies.

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“You need to put necessary measures in place to quickly detect any breaches and remedy. Vulnerability is any flaw or weakness that can be exploited. There should be countermeasures in place to prevent, minimize or report any breaches on time so that corrective measures can be taken up immediately”, Femi-Oyewole stated.

In her words, ”Emerging technologies have transformative powers and their adoption has increased post-pandemic.

She defined operational resilience means the ability of firms and the financial sector as a whole, to absorb and adapt to shocks and disruptions, rather than contribute to them.

She further noted that regulatory responsibilities towards cybersecurity have

While noting that we are the human firewall, Femi-Oyewole stressed that human need to understand that they are the front line of defence and this called for a need to be trained.

She also stressed that as part of cautions, we need to be aware of future trends.

On his part the CCISONFI Chairman who also doubles as the Chief Information Security Officer, Stanbic IBTC, Igboa Abumere noted that there is a need for awareness despite the cybersecurity regulations. “We are highly regulated but we still need to know how to protect ourselves,” he stated.