Chinenye Anuforo
Following its commitment as the government’s clearinghouse for all IT procurement and services in the public sector, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has approved a number of ICT security and systems infrastructure upgrade projects of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A statement from NITDA showed that the projects cleared include Enterprise Network Security – Gateway Security Project, aimed at upgrading the bank’s network security appliances and ensures that network security appliances are highly available and provides comprehensive real-time protection against advanced threats.
The Intelligence Security Operations Centre project is aimed at providing a dedicated centre, technology and team for continuous monitoring of the bank’s network to prevent, detect and deal with cyber attacks.
Also approved was implementation of a Network Access Control (NAC) Solution – a security approach designed to restrict the availability of network resources to endpoint devices, aimed at enhancing infrastructure security as well as limit potential effects from emerging security threats and the Identity and Access Management Solution project aimed at ensuring that the right individuals access the right resources/applications at the right times and for the right reasons.
It may be recalled that Dr. Isa Pantami, the Director General/CEO, in one of his recent press statements, alerted the country on potential cyber attacks likely to be experienced, targeting banking, health and other systems, power and transportation systems, as well as other critical national infrastructure.
The CBN, in its efforts towards mitigating these threats, especially in the country’s financial institutions, initiated the implementation of these projects. The Director General, in his clearance letter, commended the bank for the proactive manner in handling these threats and reiterated NITDA’s continued support for all initiatives aimed at ensuring that the country’s cyberspace is safe and secure.
Recall also that President Muhammadu Buhari, during last year’s e-Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition, called for strict compliance to the IT Project’s Clearance directive by all government establishments. He also used the event to commend the agency’s efforts at enforcing the Federal Government’s directive on ensuring that all ICT projects are cleared before they are implemented.