The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has made Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) a part of its cybersecurity evaluation standards for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), in a transfer to strengthen the security of presidency digital infrastructure.
The company additionally known as for authorities web sites utilizing the .gov.ng area to undertake DNSSEC, which makes use of digital signatures to assist confirm the authenticity of area identify data and defend in opposition to sure types of cyberattacks.
NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed the coverage at a cybersecurity consciousness webinar organised by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) by way of its .ng Academy on Monday.
The webinar, held as a part of actions marking Cybersecurity Awareness Month, was themed “Securing Nigeria’s Digital Foundation: DNSSEC, the .ng Domain, and the Future of National Cyber Resilience”.
NITDA to include DNS into evaluation
Represented by Oluwasegun Falayan, the NITDA chief mentioned the company would incorporate DNS security into its cybersecurity evaluation framework, stressing that authorities establishments should safe their domains slightly than merely register them.
- “So we must lead, we must ensure that every .gov.ng is signed as much as possible, and we provide DNS as an inclusion in every security assessment that we do. So it’s not enough to just have a domain, but it must be secured and must be signed,” he mentioned.
DNSSEC is a security extension to the Domain Name System (DNS), which interprets domains into the numerical addresses computer systems use to find web sites and on-line companies.
It provides digital signatures that enable validating resolvers to confirm whether or not DNS responses are genuine and haven’t been tampered with.
According to NiRA President, Adesola Akinsanya, the know-how is a crucial layer of safety for Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, significantly as cyber threats proceed to rise.
However, he cautioned that implementing DNSSEC with out the required technical experience may create new issues, together with making web sites inaccessible to customers whose DNS resolvers validate signatures.
- “Our priority must therefore be competence, coordination and careful implementation, rather than adoption for its own sake,” Akinsanya mentioned.
He defined that DNSSEC doesn’t encrypt web visitors, stop distributed denial-of-service assaults or defend in opposition to compromised registrar credentials. It should due to this fact work alongside different cybersecurity measures to supply efficient safety.
The NiRA president additionally pressured that securing the area identify layer requires cooperation amongst authorities businesses, web service suppliers, area registrars, companies and cybersecurity professionals.
Nigeria faces rising cyber threats
Akinsanya cited cybersecurity and monetary sector figures to spotlight the financial implications of weak digital security.
According to figures he attributed to Check Point, the common Nigerian organisation confronted about 4,361 tried cyberattacks weekly in June, in contrast with a worldwide common of roughly 2,270.
He additionally referenced Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) figures exhibiting that digital fee fraud amounted to N25.85 billion in 2025, regardless of a decline in reported incidents.
Akinsanya cautioned that the discount in reported incidents mustn’t routinely be interpreted as improved security, noting that underreporting may distort the image.
- “DNS security is not a technical hobby. It is an economic question,” he mentioned.
He urged authorities establishments to overview the security of their domains, make sure that account entry is correctly managed and activate multi issue authentication to cut back the chance of unauthorised modifications.
DNSSEC on .ng area
Nigeria formally unveiled the DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) on the .ng domain, in April this yr inn a transfer geared toward strengthening the nation’s digital infrastructure and cybersecurity framework.
The unveiling was carried out by Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), the registry accountable for managing Nigeria’s nation code top-level area, .ng, throughout a media advocacy and capability constructing workshop held in Lagos on Thursday.
The growth positioned Nigeria amongst nations adopting superior applied sciences to safe their web ecosystems, whereas reinforcing efforts to construct a resilient and globally aggressive digital financial system.
