NCC boss, Maida, Offers Panacea to Curb Financial Crimes

The Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, has advocated continuous investment on Information Communication Technology, ICT, to curb financial crimes.

He also said public enlightenment should be intensified to reduce crimes.

Maida spoke at the 11th Anniversary Lecture Series of RealNews Magazine, in Lagos.

He said, "investment in ICT solutions, as well as a multidisciplinary multi-stakeholder strategy, combining technology specialists, legal professionals, and legislators, are critical in keeping up with emerging criminal methods."

Maida also said public education and understanding of Internet safety are also important in limiting the risks linked with the spread of criminality via technology.

According to him, financial crimes refer to criminal activities that involve transactions, abuse, misuse, deception, or manipulation of financial systems for personal gain. 

They include a wide range of offenses such as Insider abuse, Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, Proliferation Financing, embezzlement, Fraud (E-fraud, Banking, securities, corporate, Intellectual Property) etc. These crimes do not only have a huge economic and social impact but can also be linked to violent crimes that lead to loss of lives. 

He said "These crimes threaten the integrity, trustworthiness, stability, security, safety, and future of an entity (Country, enterprise, individual).

"With the increasing adoption of digital technologies, the emergence of new technologies, and the often-transnational nature of these crimes, the scope of financial crimes has broadened and created further concerns." 

Elucidating on the 'The Role of ICT in Curbing Financial Crimes

Robust information and communication technology (ICT) systems', Maida said they are "critical for preventing/investigating financial crimes or mitigating the risks associated with virtual assets in financial markets.

"These systems facilitate compliance with established standards or regulations, they also provide a platform that allows the monitoring, tracing, and analyzing of digital transactions in real-time. ICT systems support secure data storage and encryption technologies, which are critical for safeguarding sensitive financial data"

The CEO said that technological advancements have significantly aided crime prevention and law enforcement agency performance. Large datasets have been analyzed using advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms to look for trends that indicate criminal activity. Based on historical data and real-time intelligence, predictive police programs have arisen to foresee and prevent crimes. 

"Digital forensics techniques have also proven useful in criminal investigations.

He said, "Historically, a variety of legacy technologies have been used to combat crime; however, in more recent times, novel computer softwares and hardwares are being utilized to monitor individual transactions and communications for suspicious activity. For instance, anti-money laundering (AML) software uses algorithms to detect anomalous patterns in financial transactions that could suggest money laundering or other illegal activity. Law enforcement agencies are increasingly employing communication monitoring softwares to follow and analyze digital communications, such as emails, social media interactions, and instant messaging, in order to discover potential threats or illegal behaviour."

Maida said Nigeria's telecoms sector has grown significantly, resulting in massive amounts of data being generated on a daily basis, adding that the advent of advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), provides a gateway to identify suspicious digital patterns indicative of crime. 

He said, through partnerships with financial institutions data can be filtered to identify these suspicious patterns and nip them in the bud. These technologies provide real-time transaction monitoring, allowing for a proactive approach to crime prevention.

The CEO said to combat financial crimes, innovative solutions such as blockchain, instant payments, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, regulatory technology solutions, and automated procedures are being deployed. The use of technological tools has made it significantly easier to deal with financial crime while building a long term strategy for combating it.

"Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT): is a group of experts, (of which the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is part of) that handles security incidents that can affect the operations of organisations. 

Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science that focuses on identifying, acquiring, processing, analysing, and reporting on data stored electronically. Electronic evidence is related to criminal activities and can be admitted in the process of prosecuting offenders in law courts.

Verification of Biometrics: The incorporation of biometric authentication into financial transactions represents a big step forward in fraud prevention. 

"The NCC makes certain that telecom carriers follow strict biometric registration rules, which improves the accuracy and security of customer data and in turn financial transactions", he said.