Data Privacy
Data Privacy
PRESENTER:
NAME
FPI/CSC/21/000
SUBMITTED TO:
MR. IBIYOMI M. A.
SOCIETY
INTRODUCTION
With the emergence of digital infrastructure, numerous economic and social transactions are
increasingly being digitized. Online banking, social networking, smart grids and industrial
networks are examples of activities now relying heavily on digital data. The amount and
speed at which digital data is generated and stored keeps increasing exponentially. While
most data are trivial, a significant amount will contain sensitive information or personal
identifiable information (PII) and needs to be protected. This requires clear physical and
digital cyber security defences to ensure data remain private (Dervojeda, 2014)
From a cyber security perspective, threats will come from both external and internal actors
whose capabilities are rapidly improving. As organizations adopt digital transactions, they
will embark on a digital journey to transform their business model. In many cases, they don’t
have the experts in-house to protect customer and transaction data. Canadians have never
been so affected by cyber criminality as the reported rates of cybercrimes, including fraud
and identity theft, are increasing dramatically. Critical infrastructure such as water supply and
From the data privacy point of view, the increased digitalization of business and social
transactions is creating new opportunities for cyber criminals to breach the data integrity of
organizations, allowing them to exploit personal or critical information for fraud, espionage
and sabotage. Although data privacy regulations must be modernized to adapt with new
technologies, they must not hinder digital innovation or block the implementation of those
new technologies. This dichotomy between digital innovation and data protection thus fuels
the debate around the required amount of regulation in the cyber space.
CONCEPT OF CYBERSECURITY
As most components of modern society now rely heavily on online services, individuals and
institutions alike become more exposed to the risks of cyber criminality. As such, the amount
of data generated and stored online every year increases exponentially and represents an ever-
growing opportunity for cyber criminals. Reliance on online services such as social networks,
e-commerce platforms and digital banking radically increases the number of potential entry
points into IT systems and thus enables increases in data theft, fraud and extortion.
Technologies that are ubiquitous, interconnected, and allow easy access to the Internet have
for social, economic and political interactions. The web provides a platform for a whole range
of critical infrastructure sectors and services, such as health care, food and water, finance,
these critical infrastructure sectors and is therefore vital to Nigeria’s future economic growth.
infrastructure, the security of cyberspace has now become a more urgent priority for
corporations and governments around the world. Cyberspace is “the electronic world created
networks. It is a global common where more than 1.7 billion people are linked together to
exchange ideas, services and friendship. The term “cyber security,” though not defined in the
Cybersecurity refers to the measures and techniques used to protect information systems,
networks, and data from unauthorized access and theft. With more and more sensitive
information being stored and shared online, cybercrime has become a major problem
(Panchanatham, 2020). Hackers and cyber criminals can steal personal and financial
information, disrupt business operations, and spread malware that can damage or destroy
computer systems. To protect yourself from cybercrime, it's important to be proactive about
cybersecurity. This includes taking steps like keeping your software and operating systems
up-to-date, using strong passwords, and being careful when opening emails or clicking on
Portrait of Cybercrime
The typical cyber attack has evolved over time. Understanding the present state of cyber
criminality by identifying the actors behind attacks as well as their motives, tactics and
targets is required to put into context the threats currently faced by Nigeria (Samuel, 2021)
Actor
Cyber attacks on organizations generally come from external actors (see figure 2.1).
However, breaches originating from internal actors, such as employees and business partners,
are disproportionally frequent in North America when compared with the rest of the world.
Internal actors sometimes have nefarious intentions, but there are also many circumstances in
which internal actors are unaware of the repercussions of their actions due to a lack of
training and general digital literacy (Gade, 2014). Regularly, employees fall for simple
phishing scams and inadvertently share information with the wrong people. The higher level
of data breach occurrences due to internal actors is indicative of poor digital hygiene
Motives
Financial gain is the main motive behind the vast majority of cyber attacks on individuals and
institutions alike. For businesses, around 90% of data breaches are motivated by direct
financial gain. The rest is mostly linked to industrial espionage targeting highly technical
Other marginal motivations may include activism, personal satisfaction, and notoriety. For
individuals, phishing or hacking of personal credentials is usually performed with the aim of
financial gain. Other motives for stealing an individual’s credentials include attempts to
damage reputation and gain notoriety on social media during state-sponsored election
meddling attacks
Tactics
The most common tactics used by cyber criminals can be categorized into four major groups:
i. Hacking: Hacking often refers to brute force attacks, during which cyber criminals
attempt to find password combinations or hidden web pages by trial and error.
Hacking also refers to the simple usage of stolen credentials obtained on Dark Web
marketplaces or other cyber attack tactics. About 80% of hacking attacks use either
brute force or stolen credentials, while the rest uses vulnerability with various levels
of sophistication
ii. Social engineering tactics: Mostly refer to phishing campaigns during which cyber
during the COVID-19 lockdown, cyber criminals have impersonated the Canadian
Revenue Agency and lured people into divulging personal and banking information to
based storage and other tools accessible by the public, or on the misdelivery of
iv. Malware: Malware exists in many forms but generally consists of programs
ransom is paid. Ransomware has flourished with the rise of cryptocurrencies as they
allow for untraceable payment methods and facilitate the laundering of cyber
criminality profits.
Target
Cyber criminality targets all participants of the digital society, from individuals and
businesses all the way to critical infrastructure and governmental networks (Dervojeda,
2014).
CYBERSECURITY STRATEGY
i. The first axis focuses mainly on the protection of the federal government’s networks
and those of critical infrastructure providers, namely in the financial and energy
sectors. The government aims to improve its detection and intelligence gathering
Cybercrime Cooperation Unit (NC3) in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for
ii. To support cyber innovation, the federal government focuses on the development of
program), and on the support of SMBs’ security measures (by implementing a new
certification program dedicated to SMBs). Nigeria also supports research efforts, both
in public institutions and in the private sector, through funding provided by the new
organisations such as the National Research Council (NRC) and the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) under the Innovation, Science and
iii. Lastly, the action plan aims to improve Nigeria leadership position on the national and
international stage. — At the national level, the government unified its expertise into
one organization. They will coordinates all efforts in cyber security (Gade, 2014). It
monitors Nigerias and international networks for cyber criminality, informs public
matters and the point of contact for all agencies and partners to coordinate incident
response.
CYBERSECURITY CHALLENGES
Cyber criminals are increasingly relying on the lack of cyber security knowledge of the
general public to perpetrate their attacks. When trying to infiltrate a company network, they
often only require a single-entry point, potentially offered by an employee falling for a
phishing scam or inadvertently downloading malware. In recent years, cyber criminals have
mastered the exploitation of these soft targets. These breaches are most often unintentional
and are made possible by the lack of digital literacy in cyber security. In fact, poor digital
literacy is a major cause of the ever-increasing level of fraud, extortion and identity theft
Although cyber attacks affect businesses and public institutions of all sizes, their impact is
particularly significant for SMBs and smaller public administrations such as schools and
municipalities. In fact, the cost of data breaches. It is largest for smaller businesses when
considering it on a per-employee basis. This stems from the fact that SMBs have limited
resources to dedicate to cyber security and often lack the necessary preparation and skills to
making. This quest for increased efficiency and additional capabilities is opening the door to
more cyber attacks. Connecting industrial control systems (ICS) to the Internet allows
operators to better monitor and control their physical infrastructure from any location at any
time. However, it gives cyber criminals the opportunity to significantly harm the
infrastructure in case of a security breach. Built for longevity, these systems often run on
opportunities and threats to cyber security. Despite not being primarily focused on security,
except for blockchain, they all have important cyber security implications and may bring new
marginally used in cyber security up to now. For cyber criminals, AI could improve
current attack techniques. Sifting through large amounts of data or scanning networks
to identify vulnerabilities to prepare subsequent attacks are potential use cases. Social
engineering or hacking techniques can also be improved by AI tools that can mimic
ii. Blockchain – Blockchain technology has been developed as a novel way to keep
ledger databases secure, allowing for decentralized and temper-resistant ledgers that
potential for higher performance, flexibility, and lower latency for real-time
applications.
iv. IoT – The proliferation of IoT devices in both consumer and industrial sectors will be
capacity, lower latency and better throughput). From connected home appliances to
connected sensors in factories, the increasing number of IoT devices multiplies the
amount of potential entry points for cyber criminals into sensitive networks.
Data privacy awareness from the general public has risen in recent years around the world on
the heels of major documented data breaches and data collection abuse cases. Privacy is an
fuelled on one side by the quest for increased technological development and adoption, and
DEFINITION
According to Kumar and Somani (2018), Data privacy refers to the protection of personal
information and data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or
destruction. This can include things like ensuring that personal information is only collected
and used for legitimate and authorized purposes, providing individuals with control over their
personal data, and protecting personal information from being accessed or disclosed without
permission. Data privacy also involves ensuring that personal data is accurate, complete, and
up-to-date, and that it is properly stored and handled in a secure manner. Cybersecurity is a
subset of data privacy that focuses on protecting data and information from unauthorized
access or attacks by hackers or malicious software. This can include things like implementing
strong password policies, using encryption to protect data in transit and at rest, regularly
updating and patching software to fix security vulnerabilities, and using firewalls and other
data economy is driving businesses of all sizes to collect and store more data from more
sources than ever before (Hua, 2023). Data is used for a range of business reasons, including
the following:
i. to identify customers, understand their needs and provide goods and services to them;
ii. to understand the business infrastructure, facilities and human behaviours based on
v. Data privacy is a discipline intended to keep data safe against improper access, theft
or loss. It's vital to keep data confidential and secure by exercising sound data
management and preventing unauthorized access that might result in data loss,
alteration or theft.
vi. For individuals, the exposure of personal data might lead to improper account
sensitive data can expose intellectual property, trade secrets and confidential
vii. Data privacy lapses, also referred to as data breaches, can have a serious effect on all
parties involved. Individuals affected by a data breach may find improper financial
and credit activity in their name, compromised social media accounts and other issues.
A business may face significant regulatory consequences, such as fines, lawsuits, and
irreparable damage to their brand and reputation. With the integrity of its data
compromised, a business may not be able to trust its data and need a response plan.
According to Hua (2033), Data privacy isn't easy or automatic, and many businesses struggle
landscape. Some of the biggest data privacy challenges include the following:
i. Privacy is an afterthought. Many businesses deal with data privacy long after
privacy should be treated as a fundamental business goal, with policies, training, tools
and IT infrastructure designed to meet privacy needs from the ground up.
ii. Poor data visibility. The old axiom, "you can't manage what you can't see," applies
to data privacy. Organizations need a clear understanding what data is present, its
level of sensitivity and where it's located. Only then can a business make decisions
iii. Too much data. A business can be responsible for managing petabytes of data
comprising various files, databases and stores located across storage devices and
cloud repositories. It's easy to lose track of data, allowing sensitive content to elude
security, privacy and retention guidance. A business must have the right tools and
iv. More isn't always better. Businesses are starting to understand that data must have
context and value -- retaining all data forever is expensive and presents storage,
protection, attack and legal discovery risks. Modern businesses must set balanced data
retention policies about the amount of data collected, its value to the business and
v. Too many devices. Modern businesses must embrace remote access, wireless, bring-
your-own device, IoT, smart device and other technologies. With all these moving
pieces, it becomes harder to manage those devices while controlling data storage and
vi. Too many regulations. Any given business may be subject to data privacy
enterprise that does business in another state, province or country is then subject to
those prevailing controls, as well. New controls appear regularly, and they can change
over time. This presents a vast, complex and fluid regulatory landscape.
REFERENCES
Gade, N. R. (2014). A Study Of Cyber Security Challenges And Its Emerging Trends On
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260126665_A_Study_Of_Cyber_Security_C
hallenges_And_Its_Emerging_Trends_On_Latest_Technologies
doi:10.1093/cybsec/tyw018
Hua, J. B. (2023). The economic impact of cyber terrorism. The Journal of Strategic
Kumar, S., & Somani, V. (2018). Social Media Security Risks, Cyber Threats And Risks