Hackers attacked FEC meetings 66 times, says Pantami

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, says no fewer than 66 attempts were made by hackers from Europe to compromise the virtual meetings of the Federal Executive Council.

Pantami stated this in Abuja at the 19th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023). He added that the hackers did not succeed in any of the attempt.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the scorecard series was organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture to showcase the achievements of the Buhari’s administration.

Presenting the scorecards of his ministry, Pantami said since the unveiling of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions in October, 2020, not less than 108 virtual FEC meetings had been held.

He said, “From the 108 virtual FEC meetings held, 66 attacks to compromise the meetings were made from Europe but all were foiled.”

The minister said all the cases were reported to the appropriate authorities for the record and actions.

He recalled that the National Policy on Virtual Engagements was launched to formalise government online meetings such as FEC and Council of State meetings.

The minister said that with the policy developed with the office of the Head of Service of the Federation, government’s virtual meetings could be held effectively and legally.

He said the implementation of the virtual meetings had saved the country over N47bn which could have been used if they were held physically.

The minister also disclosed that in line with Buhari’s vision to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, not less than 2.2 million jobs had been created in the digital sector in the past three years.

He said the feat was achieved in the sector by the implementation of the Executive Orders signed by the President to prioritise indigenous content as well as indigenous professional in the execution of national projects.

Pantami said in the execution of jobs, planning and design of projects, as well as appointments of key officials in the digital sector of the country, priorities were given  to indigenous professionals.

He said his ministry also prioritised the execution of programmes and projects that could generate direct and indirect jobs.