The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has raised concerns over rapidly evolving cybersecurity risks driven by artificial intelligence, urging coordinated national action.
Speaking ahead of the inauguration of a proposed cybersecurity advisory council, Inuwa revealed that the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy plans to hold additional stakeholder engagement sessions.
He said the initiative reflects a commitment to inclusivity and transparency, similar to the collaborative approach used in developing Nigeria’s National AI Strategy.
Inuwa explained that the growing integration of artificial intelligence into daily systems has significantly transformed the cybersecurity landscape, creating more complex and unpredictable threats.
He noted that cyber risks now exist on two fronts—attacks targeting AI systems and those carried out using AI technologies—expanding the scale of vulnerabilities.
The NITDA boss also warned of increasingly sophisticated AI-driven social engineering, particularly the rise of deepfake technology that makes it harder to distinguish between real and manipulated audio or video.
He stressed that cybersecurity challenges cannot be tackled in isolation, calling for stronger collaboration between government and the private sector to address emerging threats.
Inuwa added that cybersecurity resilience depends on collective responsibility, noting that a single weak link can expose entire networks.
