The Evolution and Legislative Response to Nigerian Cybercrime
[Thesis]
McCurdy, Michael
Corbo, Duane
Utica College
2020
44 p.
M.S.
Utica College
2020
The purpose of this paper was to examine the evolution of cybercrime and cyber legislation in Nigeria to determine how cybercrime has evolved, what effect cyber legislation has had on law enforcement effectiveness and crime reduction efforts, and conclude just what kind of effect cybercrime has had on Nigeria's global economic standing. By documenting the answers to these questions, a baseline on how this activity formed and trends toward the future of cybercrime in Nigeria are established. This can help inform policy decisions on how to combat cybercrime within Nigeria and originating in Nigeria. The research determined that Nigerian cybercrime is evolving, though cybercriminals still employ tactics, such as 419 scams, that were used even before Internet usage became widespread within Nigeria. Cybercriminals have upgraded their toolkits with commodity malware and RATS to more effectively compromise their targets. Nigerian cyber legislation has lagged behind and hasn't been effective in keeping up with new cyber threats. Critics of the Cybercrime Act of 2015, a major piece of Nigerian legislation that set the stage for cybersecurity enforcement, have decried it as being at best ineffective and at worst dangerous to not only the privacy rights of Nigerians but a threat to the Nigerian free press. At present, cyber legislation has not yielded positive results in aiding with law enforcement effectiveness. Cybercrime has had a negative effect on Nigeria's global economic standing as it is perceived as a hub of cybercrime and criminals. This directly and negatively impacts foreign investment in Nigeria as well as causes an increase in private, domestic spending for cybersecurity that could be allocated elsewhere. Ultimately these factors combine to keep Nigeria in a cycle of poverty that can be broken with proper investment and reform from the top levels of government.