Abdul Telecomms

Cyber attack is not only caused as a result of a malicious link people click on but rather the strength of password is another factor that contributes to hacking of a device.

Commonly used passwords today are numbers ranging from 0 - 9 and alphabets A - Z.. while you may feel confident using either of this or the combination of both that your account will be hard to be compromised.. The fact is such kinds of passwords are vulnerable to brute force attacks.

If a password contains only numbers ranging from 0 - 9(e.g 0123456...) or Alphabets(e.g password), it will take less than a second to be compromised.

If it contains alphabets A - Z with a mix of numbers(e.g picture1) then it will take 3 hours to be compromised by an attacker.

A recommended strong password should be 16 characters in length with a combination of uppercase, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters.

Note - DO NOT use the same password for two different accounts. It's a best practice to have different passwords for different accounts. You can make use of password managers to store all your passwords.

I am Abdulmajid Haruna Saeed and I dislike cyberattacks.

CALL FOR MENTORS
To assist with the NITDA Blockchain Scholarship Programme

We need blockchain mentors across all the states of Nigeria, to support and mentor students in the NITDA Blockchain Scholarship Programme for a period of 3 months (December 2022 to February 2022).

A typical mentor will have experience in:
- Javascript
- Golang
- Bitcoin Blockchain
- Smart Contract

Duties:
Support physical meetups on Saturdays at designated centers
Mentors required in every city across Nigeria.

Perks:
An opportunity to work with global blockchain developers
Get involved in real-life blockchain projects and gain experience
Access to the BSV Blockchain Ecosystem

If you are enthusiastic to support the budding blockchain developers in Nigeria, please indicate interest by filling out the application form at

CALL FOR MENTORS For NITDA Blockchain Scholarship 2022 programme. We are looking for mentors to assist with on-site meetups for the NBS2022. The meetups will take place on Saturdays for 4 hours at designated cities across Nigeria. Starting from December 2022 to February 2023 Selection Criteria: Have experience in: -...

Continuation of .. Kids, youths adults

THE BENEFITS of DIGITAL LITERACY FOR KIDS

Children are at a great advantage with an understanding of digital literacy. In a world which is so connected, kids learn digital skills from an early age. Many of these tech skills are essential in the classroom and in the workforce. Almost any industry children move into when they start their career will require some form of digital .

And with most schools now requiring projects and assignments been submitted online, children are expected to have basic skills such as been able to type up a document, research using a search engine, and send an email as well as been able to use the internet safely.

Now more than ever, a digital literacy curriculum is imperative. Where we run into trouble is with the use of without a clear understanding of its purpose. Kids who use social media should understand how it works, who can see it, and what digital footprint they are leaving behind.

THE 4 PRINCIPLES of DIGITAL LITERACY

There are 4 main principles of digital literacy that are important to understand. These are:

Comprehension: The first principle is comprehension and refers to the ability for readers of digital media to be able to understand its content.

Interdependence: Today, the world exists in an interconnected state. Digital media consumption is now a part of our everyday lives. The term digital interdependence reflects how one media form connects with another. The proliferation of digital devices has made it easier to consume content from different mediums.

Social Factors: In the word of social media, there are a variety of social factors that can affect how messages are perceived in the digital world. Understanding these social factors is key to understanding the success of certain types of media.

Curation: Anyone who has saved a pin to a Pinterest board understands the concept of digital curation. Curation refers to finding,organizing and saving.

Good Morning Everyone

Let's take you back to the background of MTN fintech in Nigeria

Before safaricom popularize telco-led mobile payment in Africa with the launch of M-PESA in 2007, MTN was already exploring ways to provide financial services through mobile phones.

MTN partnered with banks, and one of the more popular partnerships with Diamond bank(now part of Access bank) led to the launch of Diamond Y'ello in 2014. While MTN and other telcos did benefit from the adoption of these channels, most of the value was captured by the banks.

Also in 2014, MTN launched XtraTime, a service that allows its prepaid customers to borrow airtime on credit. This product has been very successful, making up a significant portion of MTN's fintech revenue in Nigeria.

Five years later in 2019, the CBN granted Y'ello digital financial Services (YDFS), a subsidiary of MTN, a super-agent license which allows MTN to partner with other financial institutions to offer MTN customers person to person (P2P) cash transfers and bill payments through a network of agents. In 2021, MTN Nigeria's MoMo services added about 374,000 registered MTN MoMo agents and had about 9.4 million customers. By the 1st quarter of 2022, the number of registered agents had surpassed 800,000 with over 166,000 active agents.

Even with this early success, the super-agent license still had several limitations. For example, the license didn't give MTN the power to hold customers deposits in digital wallets and as a result, MTN couldn't provide a wide range of financial services or build a deeper relationship with its customers.

This is perhaps why this payment service bank seems to be the long awaited ticket for telecommunication companies like MTN to offer financial services.

But how true is this?

In my next post, you will know what PSB license allow to do.

Thanks for reading 😊