The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has stated that its servers were not breached and are at the highest international security levels. This was disclosed on Tuesday in a statement signed by the Director-General of NIMC, Engr Aliyu Aziz after reports circulating on Monday that the commission’s server was hacked and about 3 million Nigerians, National Identification Number (NIN) was reportedly stolen.
The statement reads in part, “The National Identity Management Commission wishes to inform the public that its servers were not breached but are fully optimized at the highest international security levels as the custodian of the most important national database for Nigeria.
“NIMC has 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.”
NIMC stated that it has gone to great lengths in ensuring that the nation’s database is effectively protected especially with the rate of cyber-attacks on networks around the world.
According to him, “The NIN slip is just a physical assertion of a person’s identity. Under the data protection regulations, no licensed partner/vendor is authorized to scan and store copies of individual's NIN slips but rather authenticate the NIN using the approved and authorized verification platforms/channels provided.”
The commission also disclosed that it does not use or store information on the AWS cloud platform or any other public cloud.
