Quomodo Systems Africa and global cybersecurity firm Check Point Systems have called for greater adoption of artificial intelligence-driven security solutions to protect Nigeria’s oil and gas industry from an emerging wave of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.
The call was made in Lagos at an exclusive customer engagement organised jointly by Quomodo Systems Africa, an indigenous Nigerian technology consulting and systems Delivery Company, and Check Point Systems, under the theme, “Secure Today, Resilient Tomorrow.”
The engagement, the first in a series of customer-focused events by Quomodo in partnership with Check Point, brought together experts, executives and customers to examine the evolving cybersecurity threats confronting organisations and the role of intelligent technologies in strengthening digital resilience.
The speakers highlighted the growing sophistication of cyber threats in the oil and gas sector and stressed the need for organisations to deploy modern security solutions capable of detecting and responding to attacks across their digital environments.
In her welcome address, Chief Financial Officer of Quomodo Systems Africa, Olufunke Tonye-Preghafi, said the oil and gas sector was selected for the engagement because of its strategic importance to the Nigerian economy.
She said the industry was experiencing a rise in cyberattacks, noting that “we are beginning to see an increase of attacks in the oil and gas.”
According to her, cybercriminals were increasingly using smaller companies as entry points to reach larger organisations within the sector.
She explained that “most of these attackers are not even seeing the smaller companies as the key focus,” because “the smaller companies are a ladder to bigger.”
“So, once you’re able to hit small oil companies, they begin to get more intelligent. Then, they will now target bigger companies,” she said.
Tonye-Preghafi said the engagement also provided an opportunity for Quomodo to explain its business roles in workplace security, AI security and email protection, while giving customers greater insight into how cyber attackers operate across different points of an organisation’s environment.
She explained that the event was designed to facilitate direct discussions between Quomodo customers and developers of the security solutions, as well as provide a platform for a detailed examination of Check Point’s solutions and services.
According to her, the engagement was intended to create a back-to-back conversation around “the nitty-gritty of CheckPoint’s solutions and services.”
Speaking further on the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, Tonye-Preghafi stressed the importance of securing the perimeter of businesses against attacks, noting that artificial intelligence had significantly expanded the scale and speed at which threats could be generated.
She disclosed that AI can throw out 5,000 prompts and bring out 400,000 attacks, adding that at this point, “we have to be smart in all sectors.”
She said Nigeria’s heavy dependence on oil and gas made the protection of the sector particularly important, arguing that not enough had been done to secure the industry against cyber threats.
On Quomodo’s portfolio in the oil and gas sector, she said, “We have actually deployed a lot of solutions to spread across.”
She explained that because organisations have different cybersecurity requirements, Quomodo conducts assessments of their environments to determine their specific needs before deploying solutions.
Tonye-Preghafi added that some of Quomodo’s key partners provide solutions to major international oil companies, including Saudi Aramco, with the Nigerian technology company leveraging technologies that have been successfully deployed by the brands.
She described Quomodo’s relationship with Check Point as an elitist partnership, noting that Quomodo is among the few Check Point partners operating in Nigeria.
In his introductory remarks, Country Manager for Check Point Systems, Kingsley Oseghale, described the customer engagement as strategic, saying it was aimed at further strengthening and expanding the partnership with Quomodo.
Oseghale disclosed that nine of the 10 biggest banks across Nigeria and Ghana are Check Point customers and use its solutions, adding that there is just one more to be won by Quomodo.
He said Check Point was also playing a significant role in Nigeria’s energy sector, supporting companies including Total Nigeria, Oando and Sahara Energy by securing their environments and protecting their data.
“Today is all about having that discussion, trying to let you know how we can help you secure your environment, and how you have been able to see areas where you think CheckPoint can add value, working with our partner, Quomodo,” he stated.
Also speaking, Channel Manager for West Africa at Check Point, Dr Happiness Udo, described Quomodo as one of the company’s strategic partners and its footprint in the Nigerian market.
According to her, Quomodo provides the channel through which Check Point’s products and solutions gain access to the Nigerian market, while also helping organisations acquire and deploy the technologies.
She disclosed that Check Point’s latest innovation is an AI-powered security solution designed to protect workspaces against cyberattacks.
Udo added that Check Point firewalls are now AI-embedded, saying that Check Point is the only current firewall in the market that has AI features in them.
“We are leaders in Gartner, Marriott, and all of the industry insights that tell our customers where we are in terms of levels for productivity,” she stated.
The engagement underscored the growing importance of AI-enabled cybersecurity as organisations across Nigeria’s critical economic sectors contend with increasingly sophisticated digital threats and the need to build more resilient technology environments.