Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has advised stakeholders and other agencies of Government to sustain investment in Information Technology given that criminals are unrelenting in advancing their strategies to beat the system.
The Commission is of the opinion that continued investment in ICT solutions, as well as a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder strategy, combining technology specialists, legal professionals, and legislators, are critical in keeping up with emerging criminal methods.
In addition it pointed out that public education and understanding of internet safety are also important in limiting the risks linked with the spread of criminality via technology.
In his presentation at the 11th Anniversary Lecture Series of RealNews Magazine in Lagos, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, said that ICT plays a critical role in combating financial crimes by enabling real-time surveillance, regulatory compliance, and secure data processing. It provides advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning to law enforcement organizations for better crime detection.
Maida was represented at the event by the Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka.
Furthermore, hard technologies such as CCTV cameras and security systems supplement physical security measures.
However, he informed that as technology advances, new avenues for illegal conduct emerges.
He stated that cybercrime, deepfakes, and the exploitation of IoT devices all represent substantial concerns and as such it is critical to strike a balance between using ICT to prevent crime and protecting data privacy.
Maida, advised that collaboration and international cooperation are required to effectively tackle financial crime as financial crimes frequently cross borders, necessitating a collaborative effort by States to track down and capture culprits.
He defined financial crimes as criminal activities that involve transactions, abuse, misuse, deception, or manipulation of financial systems for personal gain.
They include a wide range of offenses such as Insider abuse, Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, Proliferation Financing, embezzlement, Fraud (E-fraud, Banking, securities, corporate, Intellectual Property) etc.
These crimes do not only have a huge economic and social impact but can also be linked to violent crimes that lead to loss of lives.
These crimes threaten the integrity, trustworthiness, stability, security, safety, and future of an entity (Country, enterprise, individual).
According to him, “With the increasing adoption of digital technologies, the emergence of new technologies, and the often-transnational nature of these crimes, the scope of financial crimes has broadened and created further concerns.”
Speaking on the role of ICT in curbing financial crimes, Maida, said that robust information and communication technology (ICT) systems are critical for preventing/investigating financial crimes or mitigating the risks associated with virtual assets in financial markets.
These systems facilitate compliance with established standards or regulations, they also provide a platform that allows the monitoring, tracing, and analyzing of digital transactions in real-time. ICT systems support secure data storage and encryption technologies, which are critical for safeguarding sensitive financial data.
Also he said that technological advancements have significantly aided crime prevention and law enforcement agency performance. Large datasets have been analyzed using advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms to look for trends that indicate criminal activity.
Based on historical data and real-time intelligence, predictive police programs have arisen to foresee and prevent crimes. Digital forensics techniques have also proven useful in criminal investigations.
Continuing he said, “Historically, a variety of legacy technologies have been used to combat crime; however, in more recent times, novel computer softwares and hardwares are being utilized to monitor individual transactions and communications for suspicious activity. For instance, anti-money laundering (AML) software uses algorithms to detect anomalous patterns in financial transactions that could suggest money laundering or other illegal activity. Law enforcement agencies are increasingly employing communication monitoring softwares to follow and analyze digital communications, such as emails, social media interactions, and instant messaging, in order to discover potential threats or illegal behaviour. These technologies improve the ability to detect and prevent illegal digital activity.”
He said that Nigeria’s telecoms sector has grown significantly, resulting in massive amounts of data being generated on a daily basis. The advent of advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) provides a gateway to identify suspicious digital patterns indicative of crime. Through partnerships with financial institutions data can be filtered to identify these suspicious patterns and nip them in the bud. These technologies provide real-time transaction monitoring, allowing for a proactive approach to crime prevention.