Nigeria Has Only 8,352 Cybersecurity Professionals – Report

Despite an increase in cyber attacks, Nigeria has only 8,352 Cybersecurity experts, which is one of the lowest in the world, a report has revealed.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reported that 80 per cent of the 978 convictions it secured as of September 2021, were based on cyber fraud. Another report by Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) indicates that within nine months of 2020, fraudsters made 46,126 attempts to breach data-based systems. Sadly, 41,979 of these were successful – representing 91 per cent of the time.

The report by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2) disclosed that there is now a gap of four million cybersecurity jobs to be filled globally.

Findings of the global report which surveyed two African countries, revealed that Nigeria and South Africa have more gaps to be filled as they currently have a lower number of cybersecurity experts compared to other countries.

“The number of cybersecurity professionals in Nigeria as of 2023 stood at 8,352, while South Africa recorded 57,269. Meanwhile, the U.S. had 482,985 cybersecurity experts while Brazil recorded 231,921,” the report disclosed.

The report indicated that demands for cybersecurity professionals far outweigh the supply, due to the fact that the global cybersecurity workforce is estimated to increase by 8.7 per cent year on year to 5.5 million in 2023.

“ISC2 estimates the global cybersecurity workforce at 5.5 million, representing an 8.7 increase year over year and nearly 440,000 new jobs. All regions saw growth this year, but these gains are particularly high in our two new Middle East countries, Asia-Pacific and North America. Japan in particular is growing rapidly — 24 per cent year over year.

“Despite the continued growth in the workforce, ISC2’s cybersecurity workforce study revealed that demand is still outpacing supply. The workforce gap grew an additional 12.6 per cent this year, with the greatest rise in Asia-Pacific (especially Japan and India) and North America. Areas with particularly rapid growth in supply like the Middle East and Latin America are starting to finally see demand catch up such that the workforce gap actually shrank this year,” the report further explained.

“Though there is a need for more people in this field, the study found that many firms are being forced to implement cost-saving measures, such as budget cuts, layoffs, hiring freezes, and promotion freezes, in order to support their balance sheet. This is due to the present macroeconomic environment. But these organisational reductions, particularly in cybersecurity teams, have consequences that go beyond financial ones,” the report warned.

“Cybersecurity professionals are critical protectors against risk and vulnerability, but cutbacks throttle their productivity, satisfaction and skill development. In this study, cybersecurity professionals share how cutbacks and related challenges like staffing shortages and skills gaps truly impact their day-to-day work, so organisations can discover opportunities for improvement,” it stated.