Excellent performance : Nigeria Customs Service emerges top contender at ECOWAS Cybersecurity Hackathon

Excellent performance :  Nigeria Customs Service emerges top contender at ECOWAS Cybersecurity Hackathon

The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has demonstrated excellent performance at the ECOWAS Cybersecurity Hackathon 2024, emerging top contender in the competition.

The event, organised by ECOWAS in partnership with Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, as well as National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), brought together cybersecurity professionals across West African sub-region.

According to DCG, ICT/Modernisation, Kikelomo Adeola, the programme is being held in two phases. She explained that the competition aims to identify the top cybersecurity teams in the region.

She informed that in Phase 1 of the competition, 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.

She emphasised that the exceptional performance by NCS team reflects strategic thinking and resilience in tackling complex cybersecurity challenges

Also, CSC Abubakar Mustapha Jauro, who led 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 emphasised the importance of regional collaboration in strengthening our cybersecurity framework,” Jauro noted. With continuous 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 recognised for cybersecurity prowess.

Recall that Nigeria Customs Service under the leadership of CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, has done so much in modernisation of Customs procedures, putting emphasis on innovation, the use of modern technology and digital tools in trade facilitation and other aspects of customs operations.