The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned banks, fintechs and other financial institutions to strengthen their cybersecurity systems as the growing adoption of digital technologies exposes the financial sector to new threats.
The warning comes amid increasing reliance on digital banking, open banking, application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technology-driven financial services.
Under its risk-based cybersecurity framework, the CBN identified cyber threats associated with fintech connections to banks, including fraud, API compromise, unauthorised access, data breaches, privacy violations and regulatory risks.
The apex bank also identified specific vulnerabilities linked to open banking, including identity theft, fraud, data privacy breaches and compromise of APIs used to connect banks with third-party service providers.
The CBN requires financial institutions to maintain effective cybersecurity risk-management systems, identify vulnerabilities, monitor threats and maintain incident-response and recovery plans.
It also expects supervised financial institutions to conduct cybersecurity risk assessments annually and whenever major changes, such as mergers, acquisitions or deployment of new technologies, occur.
For fintech companies and other third parties connecting to banks’ systems, the framework requires appropriate regulatory approval and professional due diligence before such connections are established.
The CBN further directs financial institutions to avoid creating single points of failure and to participate in industry-wide cyber exercises to test their preparedness to respond to attacks that could have broader consequences for the financial system.
The warning comes as Nigeria’s digital payment ecosystem continues to expand, prompting the CBN to strengthen the security architecture around electronic payments. The apex bank is also moving to establish a Payment Security Operations Centre for real-time monitoring of payment-related cyber threats and coordination of responses involving banks, fintechs and other stakeholders.
The CBN’s cybersecurity framework underscores the need for financial institutions to balance technological innovation with stronger controls for protecting customers, financial data and the stability of the payment system.
