How INEC portal was attacked by hackers during Osun, Ekiti elections

INEC’s Boss recounts how the electoral umpire survived cyber attack in Ekiti and Osun 2022 elections.

As Nigeria prepare for the 2023 general election elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that its Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV Portal) was attacked from Asia during Ekiti and Osun governorship polls held earlier this year.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the electoral body stated this on Friday while delivering a keynote address at a stakeholders’ conference on election result management in Abuja. The event was organised by YIAGA Africa, a civil society organisation (CSO).

“Another technical concern for us is the repeated attempts to break through our cyber security system for the portal,” Prof. Yakubu said.

“Our engineers reported several cyberattacks on the portal during the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, some of them from as far as Asia. I am glad to note that all of them failed.

“However, while we are confident in the security solutions that we have deployed for IReV and all our web presence, we must remain vigilant and continue to strengthen our defences. We have tasked our engineers to do everything possible to fully protect the IReV and all our web resources.”