Jan. 11, 2022

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says its servers have not been breached but operating at the highest international security levels.

In a statement by Kayode Adegoke, Head Corporate Communications of the Commission, making the declaration in his new year message, the Director general, NIMC, Aliyu Aziz said as the custodian of the functional identity database in Africa’s most populous nation, NIMC has gone to great length to ensure the nation’s database is adequately secured and protected especially given the spate of cyber attacks on networks across the world.

“We have gone 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.

He was reacting to a hacker identified as Sam who on Monday claimed he successfully breached the server of NIMC.

“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,” he said.

Aliyu said NIMC also 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 assures 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.

”The commission does not use nor store information on the AWS cloud platform.

”We don’t store information in any public cloud in spite of the usefulness of the NIMC Mobile App that is available to the public for accessing their NIN on the go,” he said.

The public may recall that the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy through NIMC launched the Tokenization features of the NIN verification service.

He said Tokenisation was to safeguard the personal data of individuals and ensure continuous user rights and privacy.

“In compliance with the mandatory use of NIN for government services, the Commission also appreciates the concerted efforts of several Federal Government agencies such as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and the Federal Road Safety Corps.

Others include the Nigeria Immigration Services; Pension Commission; the Nigeria Police Force; the Nigeria Correctional Service; the Nigeria Customs and a host of others.

He said most of this agencies have streamlined their services in line with the NIN as the valid means of identification, “Aliyu said.

The commission assured Nigerians that it will continue to uphold the highest ethical standards in data security on behalf of the FG and ensure compliance with data protection and privacy regulations.