The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has debunked reports going round social media that the country’s identity database has been breached by hackers.
Reports emerged on Monday that Nigeria’s identity database had been hit by cyber-attack.
But NIMC, in a statement released on Tuesday morning, said its servers were not breached but are fully optimized at the highest international security levels as the custodian of the most important national database for Nigeria.
The Director-General of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu Aziz, was quoted as saying that the commission, as the custodian of the foundational identity database for Africa’s most populous nation, has gone to great lengths to ensure the nation’s database is adequately secured and protected especially given the spate of cyber-attacks on networks across the world.
He said, “Over the years, through painstaking efforts, NIMC has built a robust and credible system for Nigeria’s identity database. The Commission and its infrastructure are certified to the ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System Standard which are revalidated annually.”
The statement said NIMC had ensured maximum security of its systems and database because of the critical nature of the identity data which the Commission collects, manages and maintains as critical assets for the country.
The Commission assured the public that it will continue to uphold the highest ethical standards in data security on behalf of the Federal Government and ensure compliance with data protection and privacy regulations.
Aziz said, “The public should be aware that the possession of a NIN slip does not amount to access to the National Identity Database, but that the NIN slip is just a physical assertion of a person’s identity. Under the data protection regulations, no licensed partner/vendor is authorized to scan and store copies of individuals NIN slips but rather authenticate the NIN using the approved and authorized verification platforms/channels provided.
“As part of its policies to protect personally identifiable information stored in the National Identity Database, the public may recall that the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy through NIMC launched the Tokenization features of the NIN verification service. This solution is to safeguard the personal data of individuals and ensure continuous user rights and privacy.”
