‘Leapfrogging’ or ‘lagging’?: highlighting critical information infrastructure protection challenges and opportunities in Egypt and Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Emerging economies are experiencing dramatic rises in internet penetration, along with an expansion of cyber-dependent critical infrastructure. Nevertheless, in many countries and regions, critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) efforts remain at a relatively nascent stage. Early and widespread approaches to critical information infrastructure protection are informed by higher income, early digitising nations, which may not reflect the priorities, needs, or challenges faced by late-digitising emerging economies. This paper analyses CIIP efforts and processes in Nigeria and Egypt, considering the degree to which the standards and approaches to CIIP adopted by early digitising countries apply to each county’s experience. Evidence from both countries suggests that emerging economies will not follow the same trajectory or benefit from the same lessons learned in CIIP as early digitising regions of the world. Both countries face a different mix of CII and CII-vulnerabilities, a greater emphasis on internal cyberthreats, and significant resource and capacity constraints in comparison to early digitising nations. This suggests that ‘leap-frogging’ may not always be possible, and innovative, context-specific CIIP policies and strategies are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Cyber
• Cybersecurity
• Egypt
• Nigeria
• critical infrastructure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The opinions expressed in this article represent those of the authors and not the institutions at which they are affiliated. The authors would also like to thank Marian ‘Ify’ Okpali for the excellent research assistance she provided for this article.

2 Though the terms ‘critical infrastructure’ and ‘critical information infrastructure’ are at times used interchangeably, for the purposes of this article, we follow the distinction proposed by Maglaras et al. (2018), taking ‘critical information infrastructure’ to specifically refer to interconnected digital systems whose operation is necessary for the functioning of critical infrastructure across multiple sectors.

3 For an exception, see Hountomey et al. (2022a, 2022b).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nate Allen

Nate Allen is Associate Professor of Security Studies at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. His expertise includes cyber issues, emerging technology, civil–military relations, and regional security partnerships, primarily in North and West Africa. His work has appeared in a wide range of peer-reviewed and leading policy-oriented publications, including Armed Forces and Society, The Washington Quarterly, Democratization, Orbis, War on the Rocks, The Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs. He oversees the Africa Center’s academic programming on cyber issues and emerging technology. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has received fellowships from American University, the Robertson Family Foundation, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He holds a PhD in African Studies from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and an MPA in development studies from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Sherif Hashem

Sherif Hashem is a Full Professor at GMU’s Information Sciences and Technology Department. He is interested in interdisciplinary academic and professional activities, with a special focus on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence applications, Management of Technology, Data Analytics, Digital Transformation, Cyber Strategies and Policies, and Cyber Diplomacy. He has 5 published book chapters and over 60 refereed articles in international journals and conference proceedings, with more than 2500 citations. Dr Hashem is currently a member of the Board of Directors of FIRST (Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams), and a member of the African Union’s Cybersecurity Expert Group (AUCSEG). He is a Senior IEEE member and an ISACA Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). Dr. Hashem received a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University-USA, a M.Sc. in Engineering Mathematics and a B.Sc. in Communication & Electronic Engineering from Cairo University-Egypt.

Elizabeth Kolade

Elizabeth Kolade is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Bristol and a former team lead of Nigeria National Space Defense Administration’s computer emergency response team. Elizabeth served as a member of a committee to review Nigeria’s National Cybersecurity policy and strategy (NCPS) 2015 and produce the NCPS 2021. Elizabeth is a Fellow of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and has been a part of several multi-stakeholder engagements on Cyber Security within and beyond Africa. She was listed as one of the Top 50 Women in Cybersecurity in Africa in 2020. In 2021, she was named a Global Influencer in the IFSEC Global Awards under the ‘Security – One to Watch’ Category. She is a long-serving member of the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) and remains an avid advocate for the education of women in technology.