Global Journal of Engineering, Design & Technology
Open Access

Abstract

Challenges in Regulating Emerging Cybercrimes in Nigeria

Dayo Akindipe*, Eteete Adam

Cybercrimes are emerging crimes that are facilitated by evolving algorithms in the cyber-physical systems, which cause virtual disruption. These cyber-physical systems involve existing and new technological devices that can be utilized to perpetrate crimes through cyber-physical connections. Cybercrimes are complex universal problems that have revealed a lacuna between law and technology. These necessitate the creation of effective legal and technological solutions for the prevention of cybercrimes and related virtual disruption in Nigeria. Hence, this article examined the challenges in regulating emerging cybercrimes in Nigeria. This study adopted doctrinal analysis. Primary and secondary sources of information were relied upon. Content analysis was used to provide insight into emerging cybercrimes in Nigeria.

The study found that the extant legislation in Nigeria did not cover emerging cybercrimes and the punitive measures under the cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act 2015 are weak with outdated provisions on the definition and typology of cybercrimes. There are emerging crimes in the various types of cybercrime listed under the Act which include but are not limited to black basta, mindware, onyx, vishing, typosquatting, cloud security breaches, unstructured P2P Botnets, that are not covered in the Act. Other emerging cybercrimes include advanced persistent threat, machine learning poisoning, and artificial intelligence fuzzing. Cybercriminals use Bitcoins and other cryptoassets to execute transactions in the darknet and the Nigerian cybercrime act did not provide for the regulation of crypto-assets or the manipulation of Bitcoin ATMs. The study also found that virtual disruption has widened the gap between law and technology, leading to ineffective legal and institutional framework. The study recommended that Nigeria should accede to the various conventions on cybercrimes to align existing laws to meet global expectations.

Published Date: 2025-01-25; Received Date: 2023-10-12