The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) performed well at the ECOWAS Cybersecurity Hackathon 2024, securing its position as one of the leading competitors at the event.
The event, organized by ECOWAS in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and the National Information Technology Development Authority (NITDA), brought together cybersecurity experts from across West Africa.
According to Kikelomo Adeola, DCG, ICT/Modernization, the event will be held in two phases. The competition aims to identify the region’s top cybersecurity teams, she explained. In Phase 1, participants participated in an online Capture the Flag (CTF) competition via the Sec-Dojo platform, and the lab was open to the public from August 6 to August 31, 2024. Phase 2 is scheduled to take place from October 14th to 16th, 2024. Held in Abuja, Nigeria, the competition aims to foster cross-border collaboration and assess advanced cybersecurity skills. An in-person CTF contest will be held.
“The NCS team’s performance reflects their strategic thinking and resilience in tackling complex cybersecurity challenges,” she said.
CSC Abubakar Mustafa Jauro, who led the NCS team against 340 teams from ECOWAS Member States, said NCS demonstrated remarkable expertise in cryptography, steganography, reverse engineering, web exploitation, and binary analysis, winning an astonishing 1,100 He added that he had earned points.
Despite using low-spec hardware, such as an Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB RAM, the NCS team achieved excellent results with tools such as Kali Linux, BurpSuite, and Metasploit. Their success highlights the need for better resources to further strengthen technical capabilities.
“The ECOWAS Cybersecurity Hackathon not only honed the skills of NCS personnel, but also highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in strengthening the cybersecurity framework,” Jauro said. With continued investment and support, NCS is poised to play a key role in securing Nigeria’s cyberspace.
As the second phase approaches, anticipation builds for the final stage of the competition, where the teams with the best cybersecurity capabilities will be identified and recognized.
