By Ifeyinwa Okoli

In an era where data is the world’s most valuable currency, the war to protect it has never been more urgent.

The growing cost of a connected world

The global economy’s shift to digital has unlocked enormous opportunity and equally enormous risk. Data, once the by-product of business, is now its beating heart. But that heart is under siege.

According to IBM’s 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average breach now costs $4.35 million, without factoring in the slow bleed of public trust or the ripple effects of reputational damage.

Cybercrime has evolved into a global industry. Ransomware attacks have shut down pipelines, crippled hospitals, and held governments hostage. Phishing has become precision-engineered, targeting senior leaders with tailored deception. Insider threats both malicious and accidental are harder to detect than ever. And Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) can quietly exfiltrate data for years before discovery.

How we made ourselves more vulnerable

The pandemic-fuelled rise in remote work coupled with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies has widened the attack surface dramatically.

A single unsecured home Wi-Fi network or a personal laptop without the latest security updates can become the weak point that compromises an entire organisation. The human factor remains the greatest liability: one misplaced click, one reused password, and the defences can crumble.

The solutions shaping the future

Fighting modern cyber threats demands more than basic firewalls and antivirus software. The most forward-thinking organisations are already deploying:

Encryption to render stolen data useless without the key.

Zero-Trust Architecture based on “never trust, always verify”.

AI and Machine Learning to spot anomalies and adapt to evolving threats in real-time.

Multi-Factor Authentication and Biometrics to strengthen identity checks.

Cloud Security Frameworks such as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) to protect decentralised networks.

Tomorrow’s challenges, today’s urgency

Technology’s next frontier brings both promise and peril. Quantum computing could make current encryption methods obsolete, forcing a rapid pivot to quantum-resistant cryptography.

Privacy enhancing technologies such as homomorphic encryption will be crucial for sectors like healthcare and finance, where sensitive data must be analysed without exposure. But the biggest leap forward will come from collaboration governments, businesses, and civil society working in sync to share intelligence, set standards, and respond to incidents together.

“Cyberattacks can now destabilise economies just as much as physical wars.” — Ifeyinwa Okoli

Ifeyinwa Okoli is a Board Member and Non-Executive Director of Prospa Capital Microfinance Bank Ltd, a financial technology strategist, and a banking executive with over two decades of experience in digital payments, identity management, and cybersecurity policy review. She has advised fintech industry bodies on regulatory frameworks, participated in national cybersecurity consultations, and led large-scale digital transformation projects in the African banking sector.