Not too long ago, some of the Nigerian tartiary institutions, including universities began the training of the youth in cyber security systems. Many youths fell, and are falling over one another to gain admissions to study the course, especially when they realized that it is mainly the banks and other financial institutions that would need their services.
To be sure, cybersecurity training is not a bad idea because it exposes students to networks, computer systems, authentication mechanisms, vulnerabilities, programming, digital forensics and methods of identifying and exploiting security weaknesses. These skills are valuable because financial institutions need professionals who can detect vulnerabilities before criminals exploit them.
The stronger argument however, is not that studying cybersecurity in universities is inherently dangerous. Rather, there has been concern that poorly regulated cybersecurity education, inadequate ethical oversight and the possible misuse of technical knowledge by some individuals have contributed to a growing threat to Nigeria’s financial sector.
Cybersecurity education is essential to the protection of banks, fintech companies, government institutions and millions of customers who increasingly depend on digital financial services.
However, the same technical knowledge acquired for defensive purposes is recently going into what one would call “wrong hands” who turned it into tools for criminal activities.
It is clear where the fault line is coming from in the context of the poor economy that has turned majority into paupers. This is also against the background of the desire by the emerging generation to get rich quick, irrespective of the circumstances. Think of the growing cases of what has come to be known as Yahoo Yahoo.
It is clear that the cybercrimes are emerging as a dangerous threat to especially banking system not because the study of it by the youths is not guided by adequate emphasis on professional ethics, legal responsibility and responsible use of technical capabilities but because most of the students use the technically skill negatively. They prefer to cash in a on some loopholes to manipulate the system for personal gain.
This is where a serious concern for Nigeria’s financial sector arises, because banking and financial transactions have become increasingly digital.
Mobile banking, internet banking, electronic transfers, payment platforms, fintech applications, automated banking systems and digital identity systems have expanded access to financial services, but they have also created more opportunities for cybercriminals. In other words, criminals exploit human weaknesses and technological vulnerabilities through phishing, credential theft, social engineering, malware, identity theft and account takeover. In many cases, the criminal does not need to physically enter a bank or possess a customer’s bank card. Access to the right information, combined with technical knowledge and deception, can potentially be enough to cause financial damage.
Phishing is one of the clearest examples. A criminal may deceive a customer into revealing login credentials, authentication information or other sensitive details by pretending to represent a bank, telecommunications company, government agency or trusted service provider. Social engineering takes this further by manipulating people rather than simply attacking computer systems. Someone with knowledge of cybersecurity understands how people respond to urgency, fear, authority and financial incentives and misuse that understanding to construct convincing fraudulent schemes.
Credential theft and account takeover are equally troubling. Once criminals obtain usernames, passwords or other authentication information, they gain unauthorized access to victims’ accounts. Malware can also be used to compromise devices or steal sensitive information. These threats demonstrate why cybersecurity education must not merely teach students how attacks work; it must also teach them why unauthorized access, data theft and exploitation are criminal acts with serious consequences.
This is not to say however that Banks and other financial institutions don’t require experts capable of identifying vulnerabilities, monitoring networks, investigating incidents, strengthening authentication systems and protecting customers against increasingly sophisticated attacks. Therefore, essentially, Universities have an important responsibility to produce cybersecurity professionals who can become part of the country’s first line of digital defence.
The real issue is the quality and governance of cyber security education. Universities should ensure that practical cybersecurity training takes place within controlled laboratories and clearly defined legal boundaries. Students should understand that learning how to penetrate a system for educational purposes does not give them permission to penetrate a real bank, fintech platform, government database or another person’s computer. Ethical hacking must be separated clearly from criminal hacking, and students should be taught the legal consequences of crossing that boundary.
There should also be stronger collaboration between universities, financial institutions, cybersecurity agencies and law-enforcement bodies. Such collaboration could provide students with legitimate opportunities to practise defensive cybersecurity, participate in supervised security exercises and understand the real-world challenges facing Nigeria’s financial system. Financial institutions could also support ethical hacking competitions, internships and cybersecurity research programmes that channel students’ technical abilities toward solving genuine security problems.
Another important concern is the protection of sensitive information. Cybersecurity students and researchers may encounter vulnerabilities, datasets or technical information that should not be publicly disclosed without authorization. Universities should therefore establish clear rules concerning responsible vulnerability disclosure, handling of sensitive information, research ethics and the use of penetration-testing tools. Students should learn that discovering a vulnerability is not the same thing as having the right to exploit it.
Nigeria’s financial-sector regulators and educational authorities also have a role to play. Cybersecurity programmes should be subjected to appropriate academic and professional standards, while institutions should continuously review their curricula because cyber threats evolve rapidly. Training should combine technical competence with ethics, law, risk management, digital investigation, privacy and professional responsibility.
Ultimately, cybersecurity knowledge should not be made to be dangerous. Its impact should be measured against the background of how it is acquired, regulated and used.
One still believes that a well-trained cybersecurity graduate can become a valuable defender of Nigeria’s financial system, while an individual who deliberately misuses similar knowledge can become a serious cybercrime threat.
One is not discouraging and or condemning cybersecurity education in Nigerian universities but that it should be strengthened with its practical components, promote ethical conduct,
ensuring that technical competence is matched by a strong understanding of law and responsibility.
Nigeria’s growing digital economy makes this balance increasingly important. The country needs a generation of cybersecurity professionals capable of protecting financial institutions and their customers, while simultaneously ensuring that the knowledge taught in universities does not become an unchecked pathway to cyber-enabled financial crime. The objective should be to turn cybersecurity education into a stronger shield for Nigeria’s financial sector rather than allowing technical knowledge to become a weapon against it.
Yusuf Ozi-Usman, nipr, is the Editor-in-chief of Greenbarge Reporters online newspaper and hardcopy magazine and can be reached on 08037020244.
