Passwords, usernames no longer adequate to protect accounts – Dr Obadare

Dr Adewale, the co-founder and chief visionary officer of digital encode limited has said that Cybersecurity has increasingly become an issue of great concern globally, while the rate of its advancement calls for urgent resolutions.

Dr Obadare Adewale made this remark in a  discussion on TVC’s WakeUp Nigeria, and reiterated that the digital transformation brought about by the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the issue but it had gradually emanated from the past.

“Before now, humanity has been gravitating towards digital colonies. In the sense that technology is changing our lives and the way we interact,” he said.

Dr Adewale is the co-founder and chief visionary officer of digital encode limited. He is a cybersecurity expert and an alumnus of Faith Foundation.

Speaking on the foundation of cybercrime, Dr Obadare explained: “Through technology, we are connected right now. We have the kind of computers that used to be in cyber rooms in our phones now. In terms of memory capacity, computing speed, among others.”

“Because of that, technology is an enabler across all works of life but brings with it inherent risks, hence, the subject of cybersecurity,” said Dr Obadare.

Truly, some people are ignorant of the need for cybersecurity and the effect of cybercrime. It’s not taken seriously, hence, the need for awareness in the sector.

Just as there are several types of quotient; emotional intelligence, financial intelligence, there’s a need to build a cybersecurity intelligence quotient. This would help in three aspects:Disabuse people’s minds from this false dichotomy whereby people feel they do not need cybersecurity because they are just individuals and not big companies

The reality is that anybody can be digitally invaded, be it individuals, small businesses or big companies.

The second is the general assumption that there’s nothing more to be done for protection from cybercrime, so there’s no need to try further.

The last is people with the fallacy of absolute security, who believe they can build so much security and therefore, cannot be affected

Speaking on cybersecurity, Dr Adewale explained it as the state of well-being of an IT infrastructure, adding that this goes from operating systems to applications, network infrastructures and everything an organisation leverages for business.

Individuals are not exempted. As long as you own a mobile phone, laptop, computer system, among others, you need to ensure everything is well protected. In doing this, the following must be ensured:

Confidentiality; enforcing the ‘need-to-know’

Integrity; to prevent unauthorised codification

Lastly, availability

Passwords and usernames are no longer enough to protect accounts. There are situations where cybercriminals take a step further to create the two-factor verifications, totally blocking the victims from accessing their own social media accounts and the likes.

In recent times, ignorance can lead to great loss, awareness is very essential. You need to protect not just your gadgets and devices, but your SIM cards and everything associated with you and the internet.