Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday in Abakaliki stated that it was enhancing its fight against cybercrimes and internet fraudsters in the country.
Mrs. Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of the commission, made this known in Ebonyi state capital, Abakiliki during 105th edition of consumer outreach programme of the commission with the theme “Mitigating Effects of Cybercrimes: The Role of Telecom Consumers”.
Onwuegbuchulam said “Cybercrime gives big concern to the commission. People lose their money, people lose their personal identity, people lose their privacies and on the process, they are either duped or even harmed or killed.
“The war against cybercrime may not have been won but we are doing everything humanly possible to stem the tide, it is an ongoing thing. As they are coming up, you are dressing them and new ones are coming up.
“The greatest achievement in this fight is empowering the consumers to understand that these problems exist, what they are, what they supposed to do, how they can mitigate it when it occurs.”
She expressed worry over the increase of the menace stating that so many individuals have lost their lives, valuables, personal identity and privacies to cyber criminals but however added that the commission is taking technological steps to avert the situation.
“So, we are looking at this issue from the technical aspect, looking at it from the regulatory aspect and looking at it from the consumer perspective so that collectively all of us will tackle this menace,” she said.
She explained that the commission was associating with security agents, National Security Adviser and other relevant stakeholders to tackle the menace.
Also, the Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of the commission, Alhaji Ismail Adedigba stated that the commission has commenced a process to establish an Internet Industry Code of Practice for internet providers in the country as a result of unprecedented increase in the usage of Internet-based solutions and services.
He said “The Internet Code is a regulatory intervention expected to secure the country’s cyber space against imminent threats from cyber attackers as well as addressing issues such as online child protection, privacy and data protection among others.”
