The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, has admonished Nigerians to be cautious of their Internet activities, noting cybercriminals conduct phishing attacks through the use of Artificial Intelligence tools.
Inuwa gave the warning while delivering a keynote address, dubbed, ‘Tech-Forward Ondo’ at the Develop Ondo 2.1, a virtual summit, organised by the state’s Ministry of Regional Integration and Diaspora Relations.
NITDA pointed out that AI now allows attackers to conduct comprehensive research on victims and create personalised messages to trick them into releasing sensitive information.
It made it clear that phishing attacks involve manipulating individuals into opening an infected email attachment, clicking on a malicious link or letting out sensitive information such as usernames and passwords or bank information.
The agency said these attacks may appear as phishing emails, phone calls or text messages geared at exploiting individuals, adding that user accounts are valuable targets for cybercriminals to access personal and organisational networks.
It added that Email-based phishing attacks have become the most common way for scammers to obtain credentials.
“Lately, these bad actors have taken things up a notch by leveraging Al to improve the sophistication of their attack approaches. This involves using Al to conduct thorough research on potential victims and creating personalised messages to effectively deceive them into divulging sensitive information. This advanced approach shows how phishing attacks are getting more sophisticated and finding new ways to catch people off guard.”
Giving some measures to protect individuals and organisations, the agency urged Nigerians to be careful about the emails they open and the links they click on.
It also called on the citizenry not to enter their personal information on any website they do not trust.Besides, it appealed to Ondo State to equip citizens with digital skills for innovative entterprises.
Inuwa, who was represented by Acting Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy Department, Dr Aristotle Onumo, the DG called on the state to prepare its people for tomorrow’s jobs.
“To compete in the digital economy, the state government needs to prioritise education and build the digital skills of its workforce, by creating efficient safety nets to support those transactions,” he stated.
