Nigerian scientist urges AI-driven cybersecurity policy
By Kalu blessing
A Nigerian-born cybersecurity expert, Grace Durotolu, has called for the adoption of an artificial intelligence-driven national cybersecurity policy to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from growing digital threats. Durotolu, who is researching the intersection of artificial intelligence and cyber defence, said conventional security tools were no longer sufficient to tackle advanced persistent threats, zero-day exploits and sophisticated social engineering attacks.
“Signature-based security measures have proved inadequate against new forms of cyber warfare,” she said. Her recent study, Leveraging AI and Machine Learning for Threat Detection and Adversarial Defence in Cybersecurity, found that AI-powered systems could achieve detection accuracy rates of more than 95 per cent while cutting false positives by up to 60 per cent. She explained that machine learning and deep learning models were capable of analysing vast streams of data in real time, identifying anomalies and neutralising threats before they escalate. The study also highlighted explainable AI, ensemble learning and federated learning as crucial to building fast, privacy-preserving and distributed cyber defence systems.
Read more: Cybersecurity Expert Temi Adeniyan Shares Strategies for Strengthening IT Governance
Durotolu warned that critical assets such as power grids and industrial control systems were prime targets for cyberattacks and, if compromised, could cripple economies and endanger public safety. “AI must not only defend but also enable resilience,” she said, urging governments and businesses to adopt adaptive, risk-based strategies to safeguard infrastructure and supply chains. She added that organisations needed to invest in training and recruitment to build the skills required for managing AI-powered security platforms. Durotolu, who holds a master’s degree in computer science (cybersecurity concentration) from Troy University in Alabama, stressed her vision for a future where intelligent, adaptive systems protect both national infrastructure and digital economies.