Organisations in Nigeria and beyond are being urged to strengthen their privileged access management against the growing risks associated with artificial intelligence, cloud computing, automation, and digital services. BluDive Technologies Limited and Delinea, two leading cybersecurity firms, made the call at a recent executive seminar held in Lagos. The seminar, themed “Beyond the Firewall: Securing Identity and Privileged Access in the AI Era,” brought together top executives, Chief Information Security Officers, IT leaders, and cybersecurity professionals.
The seminar highlighted the evolving cyber-risk landscape, with artificial intelligence, cloud environments, remote work, and machine-to-machine connectivity changing the way enterprises approach cybersecurity. According to Abdul-Azeez Musa, Chief Executive Officer of BluDive Technologies Limited, technology has evolved from being an enabler of business to becoming an integral part of the business itself. As a result, organisations must move cybersecurity beyond the traditional IT function and make it a strategic boardroom priority.
Musa identified people and governance as two major challenges confronting cybersecurity, noting that even sophisticated security technologies can be undermined by weak enforcement, poor security practices, and inadequate governance. He stressed that the firewall is no longer enough to protect modern enterprises. The rise of remote workforces, multi-cloud environments, third-party contractors, applications, and AI agents means that access to enterprise systems increasingly occurs outside the traditional corporate network.
Nadia Zamouri, Territory Manager, Middle East & Africa at Delinea, noted that virtually every type of identity — whether human, machine, or AI — could become privileged at some point. She said identity security should enable organisations to adopt AI confidently rather than prevent them from taking advantage of the technology. Zamouri emphasised that the traditional network perimeter is no longer sufficient to protect modern enterprises.
Vijay Balakrishnan, Delinea Sales Engineer, highlighted the growing security risks associated with service accounts and non-human identities. Many organisations rely on service accounts to allow applications and systems to communicate with one another. However, credentials associated with these accounts can remain static for extended periods because changing them may disrupt business operations. Balakrishnan emphasised the importance of Just-in-Time (JIT) privileged access.
A modern Privileged Access Management strategy can help organisations control and monitor privileged accounts; apply least-privilege access policies; provide Just-in-Time access to critical systems; secure service accounts and machine identities; reduce the risks associated with compromised credentials; monitor privileged sessions; improve visibility into human and non-human identities; support Zero Trust security principles; strengthen regulatory and cybersecurity governance; and reduce the potential impact of insider threats and credential-based attacks.
The partnership between BluDive and Delinea has evolved beyond technology deployment, with BluDive serving as a premier Delinea partner, supporting customer deployments and providing high-severity technical support through a team that includes more than eight certified engineers. The cybersecurity challenge requires continuous innovation, with organisations needing to research, test, and adopt technologies capable of reducing manual processes while improving operational efficiency.
Key points
- Organisations must make identity security and Privileged Access Management a central pillar of their cybersecurity strategies.
- The traditional perimeter-based security model is giving way to an identity-centric and Zero Trust approach.
- A modern Privileged Access Management strategy can help organisations control and monitor privileged accounts.
