Nigerians Are Searching For Online Security
We now have a resource
Co-Creation Hub developed SafeOnline (www.safeonline.ng)and launched it in November 2017. SafeOnline is a how-to, actionable digital security guide to help Nigerians use the internet smartly and safely. We developed the guide because of our unique position as a place for technologists, social entrepreneurs, government, tech companies, impact investors and hackers to co-create new solutions to the many social problems in Nigeria.
We initially targeted civil society organizations because they were increasingly relying on digital tools to make their work easier. Unfortunately, these digital tools bring along risks including malicious attacks on digital assets, data privacy and even threats to lives & properties. We set out to help build awareness of digital privacy and security issues in a way as to empower and motivate proactive action by these champions of our democracy.
In March 2018, we got some interesting insights into how important our work is. We were running a Google Adwords campaign to promote safeonline.ng to users in Nigeria. The ad ran on Google search and across other Google products. After just 2 days of running the Google search ad, we saw the results below.
Firstly, check out this image, it gives a clear message- Nigerians really want to be safe online and we are looking for help. How do you explain 599 searches of the words “pc security”, 192 searches for “computer safety”, 142 searches for “internet security virus”. Indeed, these are vital areas where individuals need digital security. Microsoft reports that on average, computers without antivirus software are 5.5 times more likely to be infected by a malware.
Secondly, over 80% of the interactions with our ad was done on smartphones compared with a meager 16% for PCs. This means Nigerians are ‘clicking’ on their smartphones and this could spell trouble. More people are using smartphones for email communication, online shopping, social media, performing financial transactions through apps, USSD banking (my colleague recently published an informative piece on the security or lack of security in USSD banking). The smartphone revolution is real and we need to be more deliberate with smartphone security. This is why we dedicated a section of the SafeOnline guide to just ‘Device Security’. Key issues like safe backup/data storage, private browsing, protecting your smartphone from malware, are all covered within the guide.
Nigerians are ‘clicking’ on their smartphones and this could spell trouble.
I intentionally omitted some information from this post. Notice the click rate in the Google search image above. It was quite low. Only 67 clicks out 2398 views. What does this mean? We are digging deeper into this, so expect another post once we figure it out :). But one thing is certain: Nigerians have been looking for an online safety resource. We now have one.
*Visit www.safeonline.ng to increase your online safety. Hacked and need help? Contact our free helpline at Help@safeonline.ng.
