Presidential Election: 12.9m Cyberattacks Recorded, Says Nigerian Government

No fewer than 12.9 million cyberattacks have been recorded from within and outside the country during the just-concluded Presidential and National Assembly polls.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami, disclosed this on Tuesday, saying over 6.9 million attacks were recorded on election day alone.

According to Pantami, the attacks were successfully blocked owing to the sophisticated infrastructure on the ground by different agencies of government charged with the responsibility of protecting the nation’s cyberspace.

While commending President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the enabling environment for agencies of government to perform their assignments without let or hindrances, the Minister stated that in the build-up to the presidential elections, threat intelligence revealed an astronomical increase in cyber threats to Nigeria’s cyberspace.

“A total of 12,988,978 attacks were recorded, originating from both within and outside Nigeria. It is worth noting that the Centers successfully blocked these attacks and/or escalated them to the relevant institutions for appropriate action,” Pantami said, according to a statement by his media aide, Uwa Suleiman.