Experts Urge Stakeholders To Unite Against Cybercrime

Some lawyers as well as
Information and Communication Technology experts in Lagos State,have urged stakeholders to unite in protecting internet links against crime.
The Tide source reports that the Cybercrime Act 2015 was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 15 to curb criminal activities on the internet.
A lawyer, Mr Basil Udotal, said all the stakeholders should come together to form a coalition to protect the internet link in the country against fraudsters.
He, however, said deliberate efforts have to be made by key players working with stakeholders in the industry to make this reality.
The Head of Legal Service, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Emmanuel Edet, said that it was very important to have the law in place.
He added that the law would allow the government to curb crimes perpetrated online.
Edet also said there were fundamental flaws that needed to be addressed to meet with international best practices.
“Stakeholders should cooperate and come together in order to benefit from the law.
“There should be adequate collaboration among them to secure their domain against criminals,” he said.
Edet also advised stakeholders to start engaging all relevant authorities and agencies in finding a way to make the law relevant to the system.
“They should have a proper forum to see how they will function and operate effectively,” Edet said.
The President, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON), Mrs Sola Salako, also urged stakeholders to protect consumers’ rights, especially in the area of prepaid transactions.
Salako said that protection of consumers in online transaction was very important, adding that there were many cases of illegal deduction of money while transacting business online.
“ There are incidents where consumers paying online are not getting what he or she paid for.
“ There should be an agency to call or report to in case such a thing happens during electronic transactions,” she said.
The new Cybercrime Act stipulates that any crime or injury on critical national information infrastructure, sales of pre-registered Sim cards, unlawful access to computer systems, cyber-terrorism, among others, would be punishable.