The Cyber Attack You Never See Coming
Speed is everything in today’s hyperconnected economy but so is secrecy. While headlines might cover flashy ransomware attacks or public data breaches, the most devastating cyber threats are stealthy, remaining hidden for months. These are ”silent breaches”, and they are quietly bleeding Nigerian businesses dry to the tune of billions. Nigerian banks lost ₦1.18 trillion to cyberattacks within 7 years, based on a recent report, this staggering amount testifies to the magnitude of the threat.
What Are Silent Breaches?
Unlike loud ransomware attacks that encrypt your data and demand payment, silent breaches are long-dwell-time intrusions. Threat actors get into your network and lie low, sometimes for months—exfiltrating data, harvesting credentials, or staging for more destructive attacks.
The Financial Fallout
When silent breaches finally surface, the effect is typically catastrophic. Some documented losses include a ₦53.4 billion loss due to an internal error and potential cyber exploitation in Nigeria financial institutions, leading to account freezing and regulatory probe.
It was also recently reported that Nigerian organizations are now recording an average of 3,759 cyberattacks per week, driven largely by poor endpoint protection and credential theft.
Why Nigerian Organizations Are Vulnerable
There are several reasons why silent breaches are so successful in Nigeria:
1. Weak Detection Infrastructure
Most organizations rely solely on perimeter defences like firewalls and antivirus software. Without advanced threat detection capabilities like XDR or EDR, attackers move laterally through networks undetected.
2. Credential Mismanagement
Most breaches start with stolen or reused credentials. MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) is still inconsistently applied, and there is a lack of password hygiene in most industries.
3. Low Cybersecurity Awareness
Phishing remains a common attack vector due to low employee awareness. Attackers take advantage of human error to gain a foothold before launching internal attacks. According to Tech cabal in a recent well-publicized incident, a transfer error at Keystone Bank had a ₦5.7 billion financial implication and prompted Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to freeze several customer accounts. Though attributed to a technical failure initially, cybersecurity experts suspect unauthorized access or exploitation by insiders worsened the issue—underlining worries about how easily insiders or external attackers can capitalize on system weaknesses during downtime.
4. Shadow IT and Third-Party Access
Unmanaged devices and unmonitored third-party software introduce vulnerabilities. The majority of companies have no comprehensive view of their digital environment.
The True Cost: Above Naira
Beyond financial loss, silent breaches cost Nigerian businesses in other ways:
1. Reputation Damage: Customers lose trust when financial or personal data has been compromised.
2. Downtime: It can take weeks to recover from an incident and affect service delivery.
3. Regulatory Fines: The Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDPA) demands rigorous breach notification and data handling. Non-compliance can lead to hefty fines.
4. Customer Attrition: Breach fallout in competitive markets like banking or telecommunications typically leads to customer flight to perceived ”safer” providers.
What Organizations Should Do Now
To avoid becoming the next silent victim, Nigerian organizations, particularly those in high-risk sectors like finance, manufacturing, healthcare, and telecommunication must become more proactive and strategic about cybersecurity. That begins with rebuilding trust from the ground up. The days of perimeter security are behind us. Organizations have to adopt a Zero Trust model where no device, user, or application is trusted by default. All access requests must be authenticated, and sensitive assets must be isolated and segmented to minimize lateral movement in case of a breach.
However, architecture alone is not enough. Today’s attackers are evasive, often bypassing antivirus and firewalls altogether. To keep pace, organizations must invest in intelligent threat detection capabilities like Extended Detection and Response (XDR), behavioural analytics, and SIEM systems that identify anomalies early even before malware is deployed.
Equally important is managing who has access to what, and for what reason. Identity remains a top attack vector, especially when admin privileges and third-party integrations are not kept in check. Regularly auditing user roles, privileged accounts, and integration points can close backdoors that attackers love to exploit.
Of course, technology is meaningless without people who know how to use it safely. Improving cyber hygiene across the workforce through phishing simulations, role-based training, and an ongoing culture of awareness can significantly reduce the human errors that most often lead to compromise.
And finally, preparation is key. Organizations shouldn’t have to wait for an attack to learn where they are vulnerable. Instead, they should simulate the breaches themselves. By launching red team exercises and penetration testing, companies can find vulnerabilities and calibrate response plans ahead of time.
Conclusion: Cyber Silence Isn’t Golden
The most dangerous cyberattacks are not the ones you are aware of they’re the ones you are not aware of. Ransomware might make the headlines, but silent breaches are where Nigerian businesses are losing the most money and trust.
With losses mounting in the billions and attacks rising by the week, the time to act is now. Detection, prevention, and response can no longer be an afterthought, it must be at the centre of your business strategy.
The time to act is now. Explore Cybersecurity Framework Assessment.
