Reports suggesting a breach of the National Identity Management Commission’s (NIMC) database have been rejected as false.
This was said in a statement made on Saturday in Abuja by Mr. Kayode Adegoke, the commission’s head of corporate communications.
He denied the allegations that Nigerian data had been compromised, saying that no website or other organization had been given permission by the commission to sell or otherwise misuse the National Identity Number (NIN) or other private information belonging to the country’s citizens.
“The following websites: idfinder.com.ng; Verify. Ng/sign in, championtech.com.ng, trustyonline.com, and anyverify.com are data harvesters not authorised by NIMC to access or manage sensitive data.
“NIMC urges the public to disregard any claims or services these websites offer and should not give their data as they are potentially fraudulent and data provided by the public on such websites are gathered and stored to build the data services they illegally provide,” Adegoke said.
According to him, the commission has taken proactive steps to protect the country’s database from cyberattacks and to provide a safe, top-notch, fully-proof database.
Adegoke claims that the infrastructure of the commission satisfies the strict ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System Standards, is strictly compliant with the Nigerian Data Protection Law, and undergoes annual recertification.
While advising Nigerians against giving their data to unauthorised and phishing sites, Adegoke reiterated commitment of the commission to uphold ethical standards in data protection in line with Federal Government’s directives and data privacy regulations.
He also warned that licensed partners or vendors could only verify NINs through approved channels and not authorised to scan or store it.
According to him, NIMC is currently working with security agencies to apprehend the culprits for prosecution.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be vigilant against false information and rely on verified sources for accurate updates.
“The Commission is still dedicated to delivering safe and dependable identity management and maintaining the highest standard of security for databases and systems, which are essential national resources.”
Published by Ejoh Caleb
