Forging A Secure Digital Future: Africa CISO Summit Nigeria

The recently concluded Africa CISO Summit Nigeria wasn’t just another conference; it was a crucible where over 100 cybersecurity titans, strategic thinkers, and pioneering innovators converged to confront the escalating complexities of our interconnected world.

Dharmang Makwana, Business Head: DevOps & SRE at Bankai Infotech, is a thought leader in the field and delivered the opening keynote at the Africa CISO Summit. He emphasised that regulatory compliance should drive ongoing security efforts, advocating for automated security integration into development, building resilient and secure infrastructure for new services, implementing cost-effective security despite resource limitations, and ensuring security is integrated across all departments.

“Cyberspace is an ocean – vast, deep, & unpredictable. Cybersecurity is the art of surfing it without wiping out,” Makwana remarked while providing actionable insights for reducing cyberattack risks by strategically applying DevSecOps principles in the evolving digital landscape.

The summit also addressed the security of serverless computing, data privacy, and the regulatory environment in Nigeria concerning cloud adoption, data sovereignty, and cross-border data flows. The need to address the cybersecurity skills gap through education, reskilling programs, and partnerships between academia and industry was discussed.

Ridwan Badmus, Head of Technology Law, Privacy/Data Protection and AI Governance, CTO, Oguntoye & Oguntoye LP, led a session on “Data Privacy & Regulation Compliance, The Nigerian Way.” The session explored the alignment of technical and organisational measures (TOMs) with modern cybersecurity practices to meet evolving data privacy expectations.

Emphasising the crucial collaboration between legal, IT, and security teams, Badmus stated, “Effective privacy requires collaboration between legal, IT, and security, it’s not just a checkbox exercise.” As Nigerian firms face increasing scrutiny, Badmus urged CISOs to “train cloud teams to apply privacy engineering strategies, tactics, and techniques to future-proof compliance efforts.”

Attendees shared experiences on managing risks during digital transformation, including secure cloud migrations and fostering a culture of security awareness. The potential and risks of Artificial Intelligence in cybersecurity were explored, considering both AI-powered defences and AI-enhanced cyberattacks.

A key theme throughout the event was the importance of public-private collaboration. The value of sharing threat intelligence and jointly developing national cybersecurity strategies was also emphasised as essential for safeguarding Nigeria’s digital future.

The Africa CISO Summit Nigeria was more than just a meeting of minds; it was a forging of alliances, a sharing of hard-won knowledge, and a collective commitment to building a more secure and resilient digital ecosystem for Nigeria and the wider African continent. The insightful discussions and collaborative spirit that permeated the summit have undoubtedly laid a strong foundation for navigating the challenges and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead in this dynamic digital age.