Computer Society alerts INEC against cyberattacks, as happened in 2022
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Warning sounded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that insecurity may force the 2023 vote to be cancelled or postponed has been amplified by the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) which says cyberattacks are on the horizon.
“If … insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis.
“This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen, “Abdullahi Zuru, Chairman of the Board of The Electoral Institute (TEI), the training arm of INEC, counselled in Abuja on Monday.
NCS President Adesina Sodiya has added INEC should prepare for cyberattacks in the ballot in 2023 because its result portal was attacked from Asia during the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun last year.
Sodiya suggested a Coalition of Security Incident Response Team for future elections, saying attempt to engage INEC on the matter has not been successful.
“Since NCS has been seen and perceived by everyone as non-partisan and free of government influence, NCS is ready to assist INEC to use IT to solve the teething problems we are facing during our election,” he said.
“We have written to INEC several times, but no meaningful response was received from them. As we are going into election years, i.e., 2023, we release ourselves to assist INEC to be among international observers.”
Sodiya made the point in a paper presentation on 2022 strategic review and 2023 information technology outlook of the NCS, per reporting by The PUNCH.
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INEC confident of its security solutions
INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu confirmed in September 2022 the Commission’s result portal was attacked by hackers.
“Another technical concern for us is the repeated attempts to break through our cyber security system for the portal. Our engineers reported several cyberattacks on the portal during the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections.
“Some of them are from as far as Asia. I am glad to note that all of them failed,” Yakubu said.
“However, while we are confident in the security solutions that we have deployed for IReV and all our web presence, we must remain vigilant and continue to strengthen our defences.
“We have tasked our engineers to do everything possible to fully protect the IReV and all our web resources.”