NCS Excels At ECOWAS Cyber Security Hackathon.

By Joe Njoku

The Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) has demonstrated exceptional performance at the ECOWAS Cyber Security Hackathon 2024, coming as a top contender in the competition.

The event was organized by ECOWAS in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), brought together cyber security professionals across West Africa.

According to DCG, ICT/Modernisation, Kikelomo Adeola. The event was held in two phases. She explained that the competition aims to identify top cyber security teams in the region. In phase one, 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. Phases 2, scheduled for October 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 cyber security skills.

“The NCS teams performance reflects their strategic thinking and resilience in tackling complex cyber security challenges,” she said.

CSC Abubakar Mustapha Jauro, who led the NCS delegation competing against 340 teams from ECOWAS member states. He 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 15 processors with 8GB, 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 Cyber security Hackathon has not only sharpened the skills of the NCS teams but also emphasised the importance of regional collaboration in strengthening our cyber security framework,” Jauro added.

With continued investment and support, the Service is poised to play a vital role in protecting Nigeria’s cyberspace.

As the second phase draw nearer, anticipation builds up for the final led of the competition where the best teams will be identified and recognized for their cyber security ability.