2023-11-14 10:31:41
2,127,331,671 FCFA in financial damage, several dozen two- and four-wheel vehicles boarded. This is the update on the fight against cybercrime in Benin from January to the end of October 2023.
Bidossessi WANOU
Benin has adopted several laws to combat cybercrime and related threats, but the damage still continues. 57 vehicles, 97 motorcycles and 118,818,330 FCFA in cash seized. This presents the status of property seized by the Police between January and October 2023 in Benin. Basically, the financial damage is estimated at more than two billion (2,127,331,671) FCFA. To achieve their goal, cybercriminals use several challenging practices, namely fraud via the Internet (donation, purchase or sale, loan, fictitious investment online, online visa procedures, maraboutage), fraud via means of electronic communication (scam Mobile money, cash theft, erroneous deposit), digital fraud (hacking of social network accounts, identity theft), extortion and blackmail, defamation… The target victims are mainly made up of nationals, 2539. As for foreign victims, they there are 872 of them. Cybercriminals are both men and women. According to a summary presentation by the Republican Police, there are 62 women compared to 1,028 men nationally, all referred by the Central Office for the Repression of Cybercrime (OCRC). This means that these figures do not take into account the many other cases which still escape the trap of justice. Despite numerous hunts, particularly in recent months, to restore Benin’s image, tarnished internationally sometimes due to this practice, cyber security threats remain legion. “BENIN faces ever-increasing threats such as phishing, malware, ransomware and denial of service (DDoS) attacks,” according to Spero Yves Houngnimy Cybersecurity Expert. According to him, “these threats can be classified into the following categories: cyber intrusions; cybervandalism (DDoS attacks); cybertheft; interpersonal cybercrimes; cyberdeviance; public order cybercrimes; organized cybercrimes; political cybercrimes”. According to the expert, “these cyber threats, which target businesses and individual users, harm the interests of consumers and merchants in e-commerce. They constitute very serious threats to the stability of the entire financial system, given the systemic risk linked in particular to electronic money laundering operations and the financing of terrorism.” Far from any inevitability, cyber security threat vectors must be identified and resolved or combatted to deal with the most urgent. They are of three types and mainly concern infrastructure. In his development, Spero Yves HOUNGNIMY stressed that the lack of effective IT security infrastructure compromises data security. Apart from infrastructure, it is important to develop the necessary skills because the lack of cybersecurity skills and knowledge hampers threat prevention and detection efforts. Added to these two threats is hacking, a major threat that is costly for companies seeking to protect themselves. To combat the scourge and overcome the phenomenon, the expert insisted on collaboration between government entities, businesses and the public which could help strengthen cybersecurity measures by sharing knowledge, tools and resources. The government will also need to invest in strengthening cybersecurity infrastructures for organizations and individuals, which would make it possible to thwart attacks and, failing that, minimize the risks.
QA November 14, 2023
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