Business

Trend Micro reveals new cybercriminal tactics, prevents attacks of Nigerian businesses

Published

3 years ago

October 10, 2023

Trend Micro reveals new cybercriminal tactics, prevents attacks of Nigerian businesses

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global cybersecurity leader, has blocked over 10 million email threats, 800,000 malicious URLs and almost 4,500 dangerous mobile apps targeted at Nigerian businesses and consumers between January and June 2023.

This comes at a time the complexity of the country’s cybersecurity threat landscape continues to intensify.

These findings are brought to life by the Trend Micro 2023 Midyear Cybersecurity Threat Report, which presents highlights from the company’s telemetry, covering the broadest attack surface view across millions of commercial and consumer clients.

The report also uncovers key trends in criminal techniques, tactics and threat actor activity, providing important guidance for defenders looking to stay one step ahead of calculating cyber criminals.

“With each passing month, the local threat landscape becomes more intricate and convoluted.

“Our latest research shows that illegal actors are shifting targets and getting increasingly creative to become more efficient and prolific.

“Prioritising a set of proactive and holistic security solutions has never been more important,” says Gareth Redelinghuys, Country Managing Director, African Cluster at Trend Micro.

Ransomware groups are collaborating on ever shifting targets.

During the first half of 2023, around 2.4 million malware families were blocked by Trend Micro in Nigeria.

Ransomware, in particular, is a challenge for local companies, with hundreds of ransomware detections in June alone.

However, the Midyear Report offers valuable insight into the ways in which ransomware groups are operating – not only updating their tools and techniques to extract data more efficiently, but also adapting their business models.

Earlier this year, Trend Micro researchers discovered a new ransomware that uses legitimate search engine tools to search for files to encrypt.

Investigation into this new ransomware, which researchers named ‘Mimic’, suggests a connection with the larger and more notorious Conti ransomware group.

It is suspected that collaboration between these criminal groups helps them lower costs and increase their market presence while also maintaining the efficacy of their criminal activities.

According to the report, many ransomware players are also turning their data exfiltration efforts toward tactics such as cryptocurrency theft and business email compromise (BEC).

AI making hackers more productive

Another key trend that emerged in the first half of 2023 was the use of AI by cybercriminals to carry out virtual crimes more efficiently.

A significant number of Nigerian businesses have implemented AI in some form in a bid to elevate their operations – but they are not the only ones.

Recently, malicious actors have abused AI technology to accurately impersonate real people as part of their attacks and scams.

In fact, imposter scams such as virtual kidnapping are becoming increasingly rampant globally.

In the case of virtual kidnapping, malicious actors are able to create a deepfake voice of their victim’s child and use it as proof that they have the child in their possession to pressure the victim into sending large ransom amounts.

At the same time, ChatGPT and other AI tools are enabling criminals to automate the gathering of information, formation of target groups, and identification of vulnerable behaviours.

This is helping them lure big-name victims (also known as “big fish”) in harpoon whaling attacks.

Whaling involves tricking executives and directors through phishing campaigns for the purpose of stealing information or siphoning large sums of money.

Harpoon whaling, on the other hand involves extensive research on targeted individuals.

This attack is a highly targeted social engineering scam that involves emails crafted with a sense of urgency and that contain personalised information about the targeted executive or director.

With AI tools becoming increasingly adept at creating text that can seem human-crafted, the effort needed to attack executives has been drastically reduced, making the targeting of hundreds of thousands of executives easier than ever before.

Threat actors are innovating, finding new ways to target victims

As innovations continue to evolve and involve more data, threat actors have also been finding more ways to victimise people.

For example, today’s connected cars contain over 100 million lines of code, giving smart functionality to the user but also opening doors to hackers.

As more smart cars saturate the market, attackers will try to gain access to user account data and leverage it for crimes.

By hijacking or stealing such an account via phishing for credentials or installing malware, a cybercriminal could locate the car, break into it and potentially sell it on for parts or follow-on crimes.

They might even be able to locate the owner’s home address and target it for burglary when they are not in.

Threat actors have also been casting a wider net by leveraging vulnerabilities in smaller platforms for more specific targets, such as file transfer service MOVEit, business communications software 3CX, and print management software solution PaperCut.

“The increasingly sophisticated tactics being employed by hackers present a particular concern for local businesses which face untold potential damages at the hands of these malicious actors,” says Zaheer Ebrahim, Solutions Architect, Middle East and Africa at Trend Micro.

“It’s critical for defenders to gain a thorough understanding of the potential risks they are facing.

Knowing these threats will help them make more informed decisions and ultimately take proactive measures to stay ahead in the increasingly convoluted cat and mouse game of cybersecurity.”

Up Next

Nigeria will begin petroleum products export in 2024 – Kyari

Don't Miss

Days after slashing cement price, BUA ‘quietly’ increases sugar, flour, pasta prices

Railway

Warri-Itakpe Train Crash: Full Manifest Retrieved, FG, NRC Condole Families of Five Dead

Published

2 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Trends Admin

Warri-Itakpe Train Crash: Full Manifest Retrieved, FG, NRC Condole Families of Five Dead

The Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) have said the full manifest of passengers and crew members aboard the ill-fated Warri–Itakpe train has been retrieved, even as they extended condolences to the families of the five persons who lost their lives in Monday’s accident near Agbor, Delta State.

In a joint update on the incident, the ministry and the NRC said efforts were ongoing to identify all injured passengers and deceased victims for proper documentation, while assuring that relevant authorities would have access to the complete onboard manifest.

The agencies confirmed that five persons — four adults and a baby — died when four coaches of the Warri–Itakpe Train Service (WITS) capsized and another derailed along the corridor. They added that 24 passengers sustained serious injuries, while several others suffered varying degrees of injuries and are receiving medical treatment.

According to the statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Funsho Adebiyi, a total of 442 passengers had booked for the journey, while 40 crew members, security personnel and third-party service providers were on board, bringing the total number of persons on the train to 482.

The ministry said rescue and evacuation operations were immediately activated following the accident, with support from the Delta State Government, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Police, Civil Defence, local authorities and other emergency responders.

The rescue efforts, which were completed by 6:30 p.m., also received assistance from the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Senator Ede Dafinone, and former Delta State Secretary to the State Government, Patrick Ukah.

The ministry and the NRC expressed their deepest sympathies to the families of the deceased and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in the accident.

They also commended the Delta State Government, emergency response agencies, security operatives, medical personnel, the NRC Mechanical Directorate and the corporation’s special rescue and emergency team for their swift intervention.

The statement added that a full investigation into the cause of the accident had commenced, assuring that authorities would continue to account for all passengers and provide necessary support to those affected by the tragedy.

Aviation

Keyamo Orders Probe, Grounds Aircraft After Unauthorized Landing on Asaba Road

Published

9 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Trends Admin

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo

Keyamo Orders Probe, Grounds Aircraft After Unauthorized Landing on Asaba Road

The Federal Government has grounded a private aircraft and suspended its operator’s permit following a dramatic incident in which the aircraft made an emergency landing on a road under construction near Asaba and later departed without regulatory clearance.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed the development in a statement posted on his X account, describing the incident as a serious breach of aviation regulations and security protocols.

According to Keyamo, the aircraft carried out a missed approach while attempting to land at Asaba Airport at about 7:43 a.m. local time on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, before diverting and landing on a concrete road under construction in the Ogwashi-Uku area of Delta State. He said eyewitness reports confirmed that all four crew members on board safely exited the aircraft and were later transported to Asaba by road, with no injuries recorded. A short video that surfaced online showed the aircraft stationary on the concrete road before taxiing along the road being reconstructed and taking off.

Keyamo expressed concern over the aircraft’s subsequent departure from the scene at about 11:02 GMT (12:02 p.m. local time) without obtaining the required regulatory approval. He said Air Traffic Control was only notified after the aircraft had already taken off, noting that the aircraft had no clearance for departure. “In other words, the aircraft had no clearance to take off again,” he said. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) , in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, confirmed that the action constituted a violation of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) and is currently under investigation.

Keyamo Orders Probe, Grounds Aircraft After Unauthorized Landing on Asaba Road

Business

Seplat Picks Elumelu as Chairman, Names Okon New CEO

Published

1 day ago

June 10, 2026

Trends Admin

Seplat Picks Elumelu as Chairman, Names Okon New CEO

Seplat Energy Plc has announced a major leadership transition that will see businessman and investor Tony Elumelu become chairman of the company from January 1, 2027, while industry veteran Effiong Okon takes over as chief executive officer from August 1, 2026.

The appointments are part of a succession plan approved by the board to ensure continuity and support the company’s next phase of growth.

Current Chairman, Senator Udo Udoma, will retire on December 31, 2026, while Chief Executive Officer Roger Brown will step down on July 31, 2026 after more than a decade with the company.

Confirming Elumelu’s appointment, Seplat said he was elected by the board to succeed Udoma. Elumelu, Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, joined Seplat’s board in January 2026. Heirs Holdings holds a 20.07 per cent stake in the energy company.

Reacting to his appointment, Elumelu said he was honoured by the confidence reposed in him by the board.

“I am honoured to succeed Senator Udoma as chairman in January 2027 and to lead the board through Seplat Energy’s next phase of growth,” he said.

Elumelu stressed the importance of indigenous energy companies in driving economic development across the continent, noting that “the critical role indigenous resources play in the economic transformation of Nigeria and Africa” remains central to his vision for the company.

He also commended the outgoing chairman and chief executive for their stewardship, saying he looked forward to working with the incoming CEO to deliver greater value to shareholders.

The board also appointed Okon as CEO and Executive Director. Okon, who has more than 35 years of industry experience, has held several leadership positions within Seplat since joining the company in 2018. Most recently, he served as Managing Director of the ANOH Gas Processing Company, where he led the project to first gas production in January 2026.

Expressing his readiness for the role, Okon said: “My immediate focus will be on ensuring the company executes the 2030 Roadmap, alongside development of the long-term plan to ensure we deliver on the immense potential inherent in our portfolio.”

Seplat said Brown leaves behind a strong legacy, having helped steer the company through significant expansion, including its dual listing in 2014 and major acquisitions such as Eland Oil & Gas in 2019 and Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited in 2024.

Brown described his time at the company as a privilege, saying he was proud to have helped build a business known for financial resilience, strong governance and shareholder value.

Udoma, meanwhile, praised Brown for his outstanding contribution to the growth of Seplat into one of Africa’s leading independent energy companies.