Cybercrime: Pantami wishes for a global strategy to combat cybercrime

Prof. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has called for a global approach to combating cybercrime.

Pantami made the remarks while speaking at a forum of technology ministers at the Future Tech Forum in London on “The Future of the Internet: Trends and Opportunities.”

This was stated by his spokesperson, Mrs Uwa Suleiman, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Pantami stated that the global approach was required because the need for datafication among global economies was increasing.

He stated that the need for increased data collection on a daily basis would continue to grow at a rapid pace.

According to the minister, only five exabytes of data were collected from research from the dawn of civilization to the early 200s.

“Today, however, approximately 2.5 exabytes of data are collected in a 24-hour period.” By extension, the amount of data generated and collected in 48 hours today is the same as that generated and collected over five thousand years ago.

“Again, according to International Data Corporation research, 41.6 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices could be connected and interconnected over the next four years, generating approximately 79.6 billion petabytes of data.”

According to those figures, datafication is on the rise and will continue to rise, according to the minister.

He emphasized the importance of the government prioritizing data protection and judicious data use.

“Datafication is an unavoidable occurrence.” As a result, we must place equal emphasis on cybersecurity, especially given that a new malware is released every 4.6 seconds around the world to compromise the cyber space and, inevitably, generated data.

“There is clear evidence that, in the aftermath of the pandemic, the rate of cybercrime increased significantly as a result of an increased online presence.”

“As a result, the issue of cyber security must be given the same emphasis, priority, and preference.”

“With cloud computing and cloud devices, national or regional data regulation may be less relevant because, as in many cases, data may not be domiciled within a sovereign nation, so border restrictions do not apply and are not respected,” he said.