Keypoints
- Emmanuella Aston of Techsocietal warns that AI is making cyber attacks on Nigerian banks and businesses faster and more sophisticated.
- AI tools are being used to automate phishing, crack passwords, and coordinate large-scale DDoS attacks.
- Despite high digital adoption, Nigeria faces a significant knowledge gap in cybersecurity literacy.
- Public trust is described as the “currency” of the digital economy, which is easily damaged by data breaches.
- Aston criticized the “excessive” collection of customer data by organizations without adequate protection safeguards.
Main Story
The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is providing cybercriminals with powerful new tools to target Nigerian financial institutions, businesses, and public infrastructure.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) , Emmanuella Aston, a cybersecurity expert at Techsocietal, highlighted how AI has lowered the barrier to entry for hackers.
By automating complex processes, criminals can now launch convincing phishing campaigns and large-scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks with minimal technical effort and lower costs.
Aston noted that while Nigerians have embraced digital banking, their awareness of data protection has not kept pace with technology.
This “knowledge gap” makes it easier for attackers to exploit personal information, which Aston described as the “new oil” of the economy.
She expressed concern over the “excessive” data collection practices of many businesses and warned that treating data protection as a mere compliance checkbox, rather than a core security responsibility undermines digital trust. To strengthen national resilience, she called for stricter regulatory enforcement and a massive scale-up in public cybersecurity education.
The Issues
- AI-generated phishing emails have become nearly indistinguishable from legitimate communication, rendering traditional “spot the error” training less effective.
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly those operating on social media, often lack the technical resources or legal knowledge to comply with Nigerian data protection laws.
- The “trust gap” created by breaches often leads customers to migrate to competitors rather than abandoning digital services entirely, creating a competitive disadvantage for less secure firms.
What’s Being Said
- “The beautiful thing about AI is that it makes everything easier and faster, but it also does the same for attackers,” said Emmanuella Aston.
- “We have moved from trusting cash to trusting banks and now digital systems. Trust is a huge currency in that ecosystem,” Aston emphasized.
- “Many organisations still see data protection as just a compliance issue instead of a security and trust issue,” she noted.
What’s Next
- Regulators and enforcement agencies are urged to increase public awareness regarding data protection rights and breach reporting mechanisms.
- Banks and digital service providers are expected to invest more heavily in AI-driven defense systems to counter automated threats.
- Civil society groups like Techsocietal will likely push for more transparent data-handling policies among Nigerian businesses and SMEs.
Bottom Line
As AI accelerates the frequency and sophistication of cyber threats, Nigeria’s digital economy faces a critical test of trust that requires both better technology and improved citizen literacy.
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