Nigeria is enjoying a lead role at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Cybersecurity Hackathon 2024 where Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has demonstrated exceptional performance and emerged as a top contender in the competition.
The sub-regional event is being organized in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), bringingt together cybersecurity professionals across the West-African subregion.
According to Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG), ICT/Modernization Kikelomo Adeola, the event is being held in two phases.
The competition, she explained, aims to identify the top cybersecurity teams in the region. In Phase 1, participants engaged in an online Capture the Flag (CTF) competition via the Sec-Dojo platform, with labs released from August 6 to August 31, 2024. Phase 2, scheduled for October 14-16, 2024, will take place in Abuja, Nigeria, featuring an in-person CTF competition designed to foster cross-border collaboration and assess advanced cybersecurity skills.
“The NCS teams’ performance reflects their strategic thinking and resilience in tackling complex cybersecurity challenges,” she stated.
CSC Abubakar Mustapha Jauro, who led the NCS team competing against 340 teams from ECOWAS member states, added that the NCS secured an impressive 1,100 points, displaying notable expertise in cryptography, steganography, reverse engineering, web exploitation, and binary analysis.
Despite using lower-spec hardware, such as Intel Core i5 processors with 8GB RAM, the NCS teams excelled with tools like Kali Linux, BurpSuite, and Metasploit. Their success underscores the need for better resources to further enhance their technical capabilities.
“The ECOWAS Cybersecurity Hackathon has not only sharpened the skills of NCS officers but also emphasized the importance of regional collaboration in strengthening our cybersecurity framework,” Jauro noted. With continued investment and support, the NCS is poised to play a crucial role in protecting Nigeria’s cyberspace.
As the second phase approaches, anticipation builds for the final leg of the competition, where the best teams will be identified and recognized for their cybersecurity prowess.
