The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has listed Nigeria among tier-3 countries in its Global Cybersecurity Index 2024 (GCI 2024) which groups countries based on cybersecurity measures they have put in place.
The GCI 2024 assesses national efforts across five pillars, representing country-level cybersecurity commitments: legal, technical, organizational, capacity development, and cooperation.
Nigeria’s highest score was in legal measures, where the country scored 19.52 out of the 20 marks obtainable.
Although not stated, this score may not be unconnected with the country’s enactment of the Cybercrime Act 2015, which was amended in 2024.
Five-tier analysis
According to ITU, the 194 countries measured are categorized into five tiers. Tier-3 and tier-4 countries are countries that have been expanding digital services and bringing people online but still have work to do to ensure that cybersecurity becomes part of their meaningful connectivity objectives.
- Tier-1 and tier-2 countries on the other hand are those that have demonstrated a strong commitment in all five cybersecurity pillars, while tier-5 countries are those lagging in all the five pillars of the GCI.
- The report places 46 countries in Tier 1, the highest of the five tiers, reserved for “role modelling”, while 105 countries are placed in tier-3 and tier-4.
- ITU in the GCI 2024 noted that the African region has advanced the most in cybersecurity since 2021.
- The world’s least developed countries (LDCs) have also started making gains, though they still need support to advance further and faster. GCI 2024 data shows that the average LDC has now reached the same level of cybersecurity status that many of the non-LDC developing countries had in 2021.
- Land-locked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) continue to face resource and capacity constraints on cybersecurity efforts, according to the report.
Commenting on the report, ITU Secretary-General, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, said:
“Building trust in the digital world is paramount. The progress seen in the Global Cybersecurity Index is a sign that we must continue to focus efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere can safely and securely manage cyber threats in today’s increasingly complex digital landscape.”
“The Global Cybersecurity Index 2024 shows significant improvements by countries that are implementing essential legal measures, plans, capacity building initiatives, and cooperation frameworks, especially in strengthening incident response capabilities,” said Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau.
What you should know
The GCI, launched in 2015 by the International Telecommunication Union, seeks to help countries identify areas of improvement and encourage countries to act in building capacity and capabilities under each pillar.
- Worrisome threats highlighted in the report include ransomware attacks targeting government services and other sectors, cyber breaches affecting core industries, costly system outages, and breaches of privacy for individuals and organizations.
- With 8 billion records being breached in 2023 across over 2 800 reported breaches, the average, ITU noted that the cost of a data breach has increased by 15% over the past three years.
- To provide recourse and rights for users as well as clear expectations for organizations handling data, countries are implementing regulations on personal data protection, privacy protection and/or breach notification.