CBN Governor, Emefiele

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday moved to strengthen cyber resilience of Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) under its regulation in order to ensure that they remain safe and sound amidst increase in the number and sophistication of cybersecurity threats and attacks against them. The move was contained in a circular titled, “Exposure Draft of the Rise-Based Cybersecurity Framework and Guidelines for Other Financial Institutions” which was addressed to all OFIs in the country. The CBN correspondence dated August 13, 2021, and signed by the Director, OFIs Department, Nkiru Asiegbu, stipulated the minimum requirements for enhancing cybersecurity. The apex bank explained that the purpose of the guidelines which provides a risk-based approach to managing cybersecurity risk, was to among other things create a safer and more secure cyber environment that supports information system security and promote stability of the OFI sub-sector. It noted that the safety and soundness of the sub-sector particularly required that they operate in a safe and secure environment. Hence, it stated that the platform on which information processed and transmitted should be managed in a way that ensures the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information as well as the avoidance of financial loss and reputational risk among others.