The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has issued an advisory for users to install trusted, up-to-date anti-virus software with an Internet security component and to customise News Feed in Microsoft Edge Browser.

This is part of the countermeasures to lessen the chances of falling for a malicious attack that has been discovered in the browser.

The NCC-CSIRT further advised users of the browser to practise safe Internet browsing habits and to refrain from clicking on links they are unsure of in the face of the malicious attack that has been rated as high in probability and potential damage to systems.

The advisory stated that the malicious advertising campaign, unearthed on the Microsoft Edge Browser News Feed, redirects victims to fraudulent tech support websites and that cybercriminals have resorted to posting bizarre, attention-grabbing stories or advertisements on the Edge news feed to entice users to click on them. The malicious advertisements appear legitimate but contain malware and/or other threats.

According to the advisory, “The Microsoft Edge News Feed is the default page that appears when a new tab is opened, and it displays information such as news, advertisements, weather, and traffic updates. Also, the following are the steps that result in being redirected to a bogus tech support page: The user clicks on a story or advertisement, the Edge browser setting is analysed for various metrics.”

Based on the aforementioned metrics and prior results, the advisory said “if the user is adjudged to be a BOT or in a location that is not of interest, the user is redirected to a harmless dummy page that is relevant to the story or advertisement initially clicked on; However, if the user is adjudged a potential victim, then the user is redirected to a tech support scam website for further exploitation.”

Victims of the tech support website scam could have their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and other data harvested or they could be with malware.

The NCC, therefore, urges telecom consumers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to install up-to-date AntiVirus software and be alert to the wiles of cybercriminals in order not to fall victim to cyber scams.

The CSIRT is the telecom sector’s cyber security incidence centre set up by the NCC to focus on incidents in the telecom sector and as they may affect telecom consumers and citizens at large.

The CSIRT also works collaboratively with the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT), established by the Federal Government to reduce the volume of future computer risk incidents by preparing, protecting, and securing Nigerian cyberspace to forestall attacks, and problems or related events.

In line with its mission to develop technology solutions that connect and empower individuals, businesses, and communities across Africa, Quickteller, the consumer digital lifestyle and payments platform powered by Interswitch, has added Quickteller Transport to its arrays of innovative services.

Designed to enrich the commuters’ travel experience, Quickteller Transport enables users to easily search and book inter-state trips from multiple travel operators across Nigeria. Users will also be able to filter their search to specific or preferred operators, compare fares based on criteria such as vehicle type, departure point and time, as well as access specialized functions provided by transport operators, including seat selection and preferred pick-up location option, all at their convenience.

Speaking at the launch, Chinyere Don-Okhuofu, MD, Interswitch Industry Ecosystems Division, explained that the Quickteller Transport Service is another step in the company’s continued commitment to provide its customers with convenient access to lifestyle and payment services.

Don-Okhuofu noted that “Transportation is a necessary aspect of human life, enabling both social and economic interactions. In keeping with our culture of driving innovation and positively impacting consumer lifestyle in the society, we developed our Quickteller Transport service to provide added travel booking and payment convenience to our over 5 million customers. Built as a multimodal offering, we will be rolling it out to include other travel and transportation modes such as trains and ferries, working with operators across Nigeria.

“We are ecstatic to be launching this service. And as we launch our suite of new complementary services, Quickteller customers can be assured of our commitment to providing an excellent experience using Quickteller to access all their lifestyle and payment needs. ”

Quickteller Transport is embedded as a service on Quickteller Web and Mobile app and is available for use by both new and existing Quickteller customers.

MTN Nigeria, a subsidiary of MTN Group Limited and Nigeria’s most prominent mobile telecommunications company with over 74 million subscribers, has joined the growing list of leading corporates supporting the Insurance Meets Tech (IMT2022) Conference, billed to hold on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Lagos, Nigeria.

Themed “Leveraging Insurtech to disrupt the customer acquisition journey,” Insurance Meets Tech Conference (IMT2022), which holds at Ecobank’s pan-African Center in Lagos, on Thursday, September 29, 2022, will gather industry captains who will share insights and data on how the insurance sector players can leverage tech and digitalisation to deepen access and market penetration.

The leading ICT firm joins other organisations such as Ecobank, Microsoft Nigeria, aYo Holdings Ltd, Old Mutual, Curacel, Leadway Assurance, AXA Mansard, MediSmarts, ActivEdge, ETAP, MotoMarket, Paddy Cover and Interswitch Group, whose leaders will be speaking or making presentations to the delegates.

IMT 2022 will feature presentations from Microsoft Nigeria, MTN, Active Edge and MotoMarket, while the Group Chief Executive Officer, aYo Holdings Limited (South Africa), Marius Botha, whose organisation has a presence in five African countries, will share learnings on how tech has enabled their growth and adoption across the continent.

With MTN Nigeria confirming participation and providing full Internet Broadband for the industry discourse, the insurtech summit will become the first Nigerian event to stream on MTN’s newly launched 5G internet network.

IMT2022 Convener, Odion Aleobua, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Modion Communications, said; “We are poised to disrupt West Africa’s insurance and insurtech space, and it will be a thrilling experience for those who would participate in person for this era-defining discourse.

“The delegates who would join virtually on www.insurancemeetstech.com would be streaming via a first-of-its-kind 5G Internet Broadband at a connection speed of over 900 mbps. Interestingly, virtual conference organisers need about 100 mbps for a superior streaming experience, but with 900 mbps 5G internet broadband, we have an outstanding internet connection plan that will be the first to be put in place in Nigeria,” Aleobua said.”

L-R: Haruna Sani, Senior Special Assistant to Nasawara State Governor on Information and Communication Technology; Dr. Beluchi Nwanisobi, Head, Knowledge Management, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Sani Jibrin, President, Nasawara State Students Association; Saadatu Yahya, Executive Secretary, Nasawara State Scholarship Board (NSSB); Dr. Austine Nwaulune, Director, Digital Economy, NCC; Freda Bruce-Bennett, Head, Digital Services and Skills, NCC; Edoyemi Ogoh, Head, Quality of Service and Interconnect, NCC, during a courtesy visit of the NSSB to the Commission in Abuja.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged the Nasarawa State Scholarship Board (NSSB) to support the NCC in creating awareness about the intervention projects of the Commission concerning research and digital literacy in order to provide more opportunities for the citizenry.

Director of Digital Economy at the Commission, Dr. Augustine Nwaulune, who hosted a delegation of the Board, led by the Board’s Executive Secretary, Hajia Saadatu Yahya, on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, recently, recalled that Nasarawa State is one of the beneficiaries of NCC’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) intervention projects such as the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP) for secondary schools, the Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI), the Wireless Cloud, as well as the E-Health programme.

“While we don’t give scholarship to students, the NCC has continued to give research grants to lecturers and students in the universities, and provided additional opportunities including sponsoring competitions involving students, as well as endowing professorial chairs in universities across the country. In the last seven years, the financial value of the endowments and grants is more than N500 million.

“Therefore, I will appeal to NSSB to create awareness about these initiatives of the NCC among stakeholders in the academia, particularly the research grants to enable stakeholders to leverage such opportunities offered by the Commission to scholars interested in carrying out telecommunications-based research,” he said.

Nwaulune said the NCC has been upbeat in ensuring implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), 2020-2030, in which one of its eight pillars, rests on digital literacy, while the Digital Economy Department has been set up and equipped by the Commission with the human resources required to coordinate its programmes in concrete terms.

Yahya, whose delegation visited to discuss areas of collaboration for deepening digital/technical training and skills acquisition in Nasarawa State, commended the Commission for the central role it has played in promoting digital awareness and skills across the country, and pleaded that Nasarawa State should be given more opportunities to  benefit from NCC’s social investments and other digital economy-focused interventions, being the closest State to the Federal Capital Territory, the base of the Commission.

“The purpose of our visit is to seek collaboration with the NCC in whatever ways possible, especially in the areas of scholarship, and ICT skills and literacy for our people. The ICT is, today, the engine room of global economy and we do not want to lag in this new digital order, hence, our decision to seek collaboration with organisations in the ICT space such as yours to work which, especially because you are contiguous to our State,” Yahya, the NSSB Executive Secretary said.

Other members of the delegation, including Senior Special Assistant to Nasarawa State Governor on Information and Communication Technology, Haruna Sani; and the President, Nasarawa State Students Association, Sani Jibrin, spoke in favour of a greater collaboration with the NCC which would add the needed impetus to the current efforts by the state government to leverage ICT for economic development.