Successful cyberattacks can have multiple impacts on a business, and the repercussions can be both far-reaching and long-lasting. Robust cybersecurity measures are therefore essential in mitigating these risks, including against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which are designed to force a server, website or online service offline.

As outlined by NETSCOUT, which provides visibility, security and performance solutions for organisations across the globe, cyberthreats are all around us, lurking in unexpected areas of the internet, networks and even individual devices. Uncovering the identification, prevention and evolution of the most common cyberthreats is a significant step in an organisation’s cyber defences.

Unpacking Common Types of Cyberattacks

NETSCOUT confirms that some of the most common types of cyberattacks include the following:

1. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks: These cyberattacks flood servers, applications or other network areas to render them unavailable and disrupt the availability of services, leading to potential revenue loss and reputational damage.
2. Malware: This malicious software that is installed on targeted devices or networks has a variety of negative effects, including deleting or encrypting files, hindering performance, and gaining access to accounts. Malware is spread by downloading infected files, clicking on malicious links, or visiting hacked web pages.
3. Social engineering (including phishing): This threat targets individuals, trying to trick them into taking actions that allow threat actors to gain covert access or spread malicious software.
4. Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks: Here, an adversary intercepts or eavesdrops on communication between two parties. The goal is to steal login credentials, encryption keys and other private information.
5. SQL injection: In this code-injection technique, malicious prompts are inserted into SQL databases. Threat actors enter prompts such as ‘Dump the entire database to X location’ to export the contents of a database for their own purposes.
6. Zero-day exploits: Adversaries make use of unknown or unaddressed security flaws to place malware in a system. Threat actors can already use these weaknesses to access systems, so vendors have zero days to remedy the issues.
7. Advanced persistent threats (APTs): These threat actors pursue their victims repeatedly over an extended period of time and adapt to defensive measures.
8. Ransomware: This is malware that encrypts files and blocks access. Threat actors then demand payment to unlock the files and restore access.
9. Credential reuse: This type of attack – also known as ‘credential stuffing’ – uses lists of compromised user credentials to log into a system and gain network access.

Know Your Enemy: Taking Action Against DDoS Attacks

The impacts of data breaches and outages can include operational disruptions, which cause delays in critical business processes and negatively affect the supply chain; financial loss due to the costs of remedying an attack, such as removing malware and paying regulatory penalties; and damage to the brand’s reputation, further eroding customer trust and resulting in a loss of future revenue.

DDoS attacks are arguably one of the most devastating types of cyberattack an organisation can experience, and NETSCOUT excels in monitoring, understanding and protecting against such attacks, for customers worldwide, against a DDoS landscape that is constantly changing.

As part of its offering to global organisations, NETSCOUT releases a bi-annual report outlining the latest information on DDoS activities around the globe, as well as presenting regular information updates across various platforms. Remarking on the 13th and most recent issue of its global DDoS Threat Intelligence Report, the 1H2024 edition, the company stated that: “In the first half of 2024, large surges in attack frequency were noted, notably in geopolitical conflicts, driving never-before-seen stresses on networks worldwide and leading to more sophisticated attacks than ever before. DDoS-capable botnets are evolving and growing, with a notable increase in bot-infected devices. Critical infrastructure, such as banking, financial services, and public utilities, are prime targets, seeing a massive wave of attacks targeting them.

“We first determined the global aggregated DDoS attack impact via large-scale analysis of concurrent DDoS attacks,” the report says. “During the first half of 2024, this averaged out to 1,900 attacks, with a total volume of approximately 3.2Tbps and 595.6Mpps, at any given point in time.”

Local investigations of the aggregated attack impact per network type revealed that networks with typically lower traffic loads (such as government or nonprofit organisations) report peak attack volumes on the same scale as those experienced by high-traffic networks (such as content and service providers). This indicates that the relative surge in traffic during attacks is significantly higher for lower-traffic networks (≥4 orders of magnitude) compared with high-traffic networks (3 orders of magnitude).

“These attack dynamics clearly demonstrate that all network types require substantial mitigation capacities to ensure robust protection,” says Hamman.

“Protection against DDoS – and other – cyberattacks is therefore of critical importance in safeguarding the excellent progress that has been made to date, and to allow it to continue into the future,” he concludes.

For more insights into how NETSCOUT is helping financial institutions mitigate cyber threats, explore the full DDoS Threat Intelligence Report, or visit the NETSCOUT Cyber Threat Horizon for real-time attack statistics.

NETSCOUT’s Arbor DDoS protection assures the world’s largest networks and service providers against DDoS attacks of all shapes and sizes.

The Federal Government has launched a significant initiative to revive the Aluminium Smelting Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), a key player in the nation’s industrial sector. This revival is expected to boost the local economy, create jobs, and strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global aluminium market.

During a two-day facility tour of ALSCON in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, from Monday, January 27th, to Tuesday, January 28th, 2025, the Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shaiubu Abubakar Audu, underscored the strategic importance of resuscitating the company. He emphasized that the initiative goes beyond aluminium production, aiming to establish a robust industrial base that will attract foreign investment and stimulate economic growth. He further reiterated the present administration’s commitment to making Nigeria a hub for aluminium production in Africa.

Prince Audu, accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, and other Ministry Directors, disclosed that after extensive deliberations, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, directed the Ministry, as the regulator of the aluminium industry, to resolve all lingering issues surrounding ALSCON. He stated that once these challenges are addressed, the company is expected to generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs, significantly benefiting the local economy. Additionally, reviving ALSCON will enhance the supply chain for aluminium products, benefiting industries such as construction, automobile manufacturing, and packaging.

The Minister also highlighted the anticipated economic impact of ALSCON’s revival, noting that it is expected to attract substantial investments in the aluminium sector and generate significant revenue for the government through taxes and royalties. He emphasized that for Nigeria to achieve President Tinubu’s vision of a $1 trillion economy by 2030, critical industrial assets like ALSCON must be fully operational.

The visit aimed to provide a firsthand assessment of the plant’s capacity, enabling the Minister to prepare a comprehensive report for the President’s consideration and approval on the best approach to resolving all outstanding issues related to ALSCON.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, stressed the plant’s critical role in the nation’s economic development. He reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring ALSCON’s revival and urged all stakeholders to cooperate by providing necessary information to facilitate a speedy resolution.

Speaking on behalf of ALSCON, Managing Director Zaviyalov Dmitriy acknowledged the challenges that have hindered the plant’s revival. He disclosed that the management has maintained a workforce of approximately 108 employees to preserve the plant’s infrastructure and equipment in readiness for an overhaul and full-scale operations.

The facility tour concluded with a technical session between Ministry Directors and ALSCON management to evaluate the plant’s current status and explore solutions to existing bottlenecks.

In an environment characterised by instant gratification, instant reward and instant feedback, the drive to speed things up comes at a cost. When it comes to IT architecture and investment, the focus should be on long-term sustainability over shiny new bling. That’s the message from Dariel Software’s Office of the CTO (OCTO) team as they reflect on 2024 and look ahead to the next 12 months.

Mastering the basics and the allure of silver bullets

Dirk Ras, Architect and Practice Lead for Cloud at Dariel, says 2024 highlighted the dangers of underinvestment in core systems. “One major challenge we observed was businesses suffering from the knock-on effect of years of underinvestment in proper technology and renewal roadmaps. Many businesses didn’t take steps to maintain or upgrade their systems when they should have, and now they’re racing against end-of-life deadlines.”

“We’re also seeing businesses try to cut costs by leaning into AI-assisted models while reducing reliance on expensive engineering talent. It’s a tempting approach because engineering talent is expensive and difficult to manage, but the problem is that this leads to poorly thought-out implementations. Businesses need to understand that the complexity of managing smart people is worth it if you want sustainable, high-quality outcomes,” says Wayne Yan, CTO at Dariel.

The allure of silver bullet solutions like cloud migrations or blockchain implementations often distracts businesses from addressing fundamental problems. Jason Evans, Software Architect at Dariel, says that small successes can lead to overconfidence. “We’ve seen companies migrate one website to the cloud successfully and then assume their entire IT infrastructure should follow. Cloud isn’t always the answer. Every decision needs a clear business case.”

Yan says businesses should “stay in the problem space longer” to fully understand the constraints and objectives before jumping to solutions. “A stable, needs-based approach might not be sexy, but it’s the key to long-term success.”

Responsible experimentation

Experimentation is another area where businesses often falter. According to Jacques Burger, Senior Business Analyst at Dariel, the goal of experimentation is learning, not delivering a polished product. “Businesses need to get comfortable with testing and discarding what doesn’t work. Controlled, iterative experiments lead to informed decisions and scalable solutions. Of course, all this hinges on understanding the problem you’re trying to solve. If the goal is to refresh the tech stack or move to the cloud, then that’s one thing. If you’re trying to rejuvenate the business and change the way that it works through process improvement, then that’s a different thing. And fundamentally, the approach to solving these problems are different.”

“Businesses often chase flashy solutions rather than taking a boring but stable approach to technology decisions. A flashy pitch might look great in a presentation, but what really matters is staying in the problem space longer. Understand the constraints, budget, talent, and maturity before jumping into solutions. Requirement elicitation followed by responsible experimentation beats silver bullets every time,” agrees Yan.

Treating data as an asset

Data governance will be a critical focus for 2025. Businesses must move beyond seeing data as something to store and instead treat it as a valuable asset. “Data quality improves when it’s treated like any other business asset,” explains Ras. “You maintain it, protect it, and ensure it’s generating value.”

The consequences of poor data governance will likely become a major concern for organisations in the coming year and beyond as regulations around data protection and privacy tighten across the globe. “In the near future, data governance is going to become a monstrously big and important thing that businesses grapple with. More organisations will require a team of experts to guide them on best practices and compliance. While banks tend to be proficient in data governance, smaller companies often struggle with it,” Ras adds.

Prepping for 2025

South African companies face distinct challenges, which makes comparing local operations and capacity for innovation to those of US tech giants a misnomer. “Stop comparing yourself to U.S. tech giants like Uber or Facebook. I’ve had conversations with executives who want their businesses to be ‘more like Uber,’ but they don’t have the resources. Facebook has the luxury of 35,000 engineers. You’re not in the same league or even playing the same sport, and that’s okay. Success requires solutions tailored to your unique constraints,” says Ras.

Yan adds, “You can’t buy a digital business off the shelf. Building an engineering culture and integrating technology into your organisational DNA takes time and effort. 2025 isn’t about chasing the next big thing. It’s about getting your house in order and creating value where it matters most.”

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has celebrated its Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, for being honoured with the Young Global Leader Award by ThisDay Newspaper during its grand 30th-anniversary celebration held on January 27, 2025, in Lagos.

The award recognizes Khalil Halilu’s transformative leadership, visionary contributions to Nigeria’s technology and manufacturing sectors, and his commitment to sustainable development through innovation.

Since assuming leadership at NASENI, Halilu has spearheaded groundbreaking initiatives that have solidified the agency’s position as a critical driver of Nigeria’s industrial revolution. Halilu’s leadership has led to 35 market-ready products for use by Nigerians and closed deals on 44 projects with Agency’s partners, ready for launching or commissioning.

Speaking on the award, Halilu expressed gratitude to ThisDay Newspaper for the recognition, dedicating the accolade to the entire NASENI team. “This award is a testament to the collective efforts of the NASENI family in advancing innovation and ensuring Nigeria remains at the forefront of technology and engineering infrastructure. It inspires us to work even harder toward creating solutions that empower industries and communities,” he said.

The Young Global Leader Award reflects Halilu’s visionary leadership, under which NASENI has implemented numerous landmark projects, including the development of sustainable green technologies, the establishment of world-class manufacturing facilities, and strategic collaborations with local and international partners to boost Nigeria’s economic growth and development.

ThisDay Newspaper, celebrating three decades of excellence in journalism, selected Halilu alongside other exceptional leaders for their exemplary contributions to societal development and innovation. The award ceremony, held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos brought together luminaries from across Nigeria’s public and private sectors to celebrate excellence and leadership.

NASENI, under Khalil Halilu’s leadership, reaffirms its commitment to fostering innovation, industrialization, and sustainable growth in Nigeria. This recognition serves as a further motivation for the Agency to continue breaking new grounds in science, engineering, and technology for national development.