Routelink Group has partnered with Qualys to launch an advanced cybersecurity solution for businesses in Nigeria.
It’s also providing free assessments for enterprises to evaluate their risk exposure as part of moves to encourage the de-risking of organisations exposed to cyber threats.
The Group Chief Operating Officer of Routelink Group, Stanley Oduah, who announced this during a virtual webinar titled ‘De-Risking Your Organisation from Cyber Threats with Routelink & Qualys,’ said the window for a free assessment will last for one month, adding that both webinar attendees and non-attendees would enjoy the exclusive offer within the period.
Justifying the need for an advanced cybersecurity solution, the Routelink Group COO explained that while cybercrime is on the rise in general, the data from Nigeria, especially, is particularly alarming.
According to him, in spite of the drop in the number of reported fraud cases from 101,624 in 2020 to 70,111 in 2024, financial losses from cyber frauds in the country skyrocketed from N11.61bn in 2020 to a staggering N52.26bn in 2024.
He cited a recent report that shows that fraud linked to bank branches alone jumped from N133.9m in Q1 2024 to N42.2bn in Q2, suggesting that attackers are focusing on high-value targets.
Emphasising the need to strengthen email security, he said that phishing is still the easiest way for attackers to breach a system.
The partnership provides a combined approach to proactive cybersecurity. While Routelink Group specialises in providing enterprise solutions to secure and manage enterprise data, the other party focuses on email security because, according to data, 91 per cent of cyberattacks start with a phishing email. Its solution blocks phishing attempts, detects email spoofing, and ensures that fraudulent emails never reach employees’ inboxes.
In his contributions at the webinar, the Senior Technical Account Manager at Qualys, Rajat Tripathi, worried that financial fraud is increasing in Nigeria despite fewer fraud attacks. He also noted that these attacks were becoming more targeted and sophisticated.
To curb cyber risk, Tripathi advised businesses in Nigeria to ensure they take significant steps to protect themselves.
Tripathi said, “Many organisations don’t know where their vulnerabilities are until they’ve already been exploited. Compliance is another issue—banks must adhere to CBN regulations, NDPR, and global standards like GDPR, but many struggle to keep up. Also, incident response time is too slow. The average time to detect a breach is 212 days—by then, the damage is already done!”
