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| Digital Encode's DEPAS AI platform is designed to help Nigerian organisations identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities and strengthen their digital defences. |
LAGOS — Every time you transfer money on your phone, log into your bank app, or buy data online, there’s a silent war going on in the background.
On one side are cybercriminals trying to break in. On the other side are security teams trying to keep them out.
Now a Nigerian cybersecurity company is bringing artificial intelligence into that fight.
Digital Encode has launched DEPAS AI, an autonomous platform designed to test company systems for weaknesses before hackers can exploit them.
With fraud and data breaches rising across Nigeria’s fintech and banking space, the timing could not be more important.
THE RISE OF CYBER THREATS IN NIGERIA
If you’ve been online in the last 2 years, you’ve felt it.
Phishing SMS that look like they’re from your bank. Fake investment platforms. Accounts drained overnight. Even government websites getting defaced.
The problem is simple: Nigeria is going digital faster than we can secure it.
Banks, fintechs, telcos, hospitals, schools, and government agencies now store millions of records online. Your BVN, NIN, card details, home address. Everything is in the cloud.
And the people trying to steal that data are no longer working manually. They are using AI too.
AI can scan thousands of websites in minutes. It can write phishing emails that sound exactly like your HR. It can guess passwords at super speed.
If criminals are upgrading, then defenders have to upgrade faster. That’s the gap Digital Encode is trying to fill.
WHAT IS DEPAS AI
DEPAS AI stands for Digital Encode Penetration Testing and Assessment System with Artificial Intelligence.
In plain English, it’s a robot that attacks your own systems first, so criminals can’t.
Here’s how it works.
In cybersecurity there’s something called penetration testing. Companies hire ethical hackers to break into their systems on purpose. The goal is to find holes before real hackers do.
Traditionally this is done by people. A team will spend days or weeks testing your website, app, and servers. Then they send you a report.
The issue is time. By the time that report comes, an attacker may have already found the same problem.
DEPAS AI automates the whole thing.
It runs 24/7. It scans websites, mobile apps, cloud servers, and internal networks without stopping. The moment it finds a vulnerability, it flags it and tells the security team what to fix.
Digital Encode says the platform is built to keep up with the speed of modern attacks. No waiting for quarterly audits. No manual delays.
WHY AI MATTERS FOR CYBERSECURITY NOW
AI is now on both sides of the battle.
On the defense side, security companies use AI to detect fraud in real time. To spot weird login patterns. To block suspicious transactions before money leaves an account.
READ MORE ON AI: AI IS CHANGING EVERYTHING, BUT CAN WE TRUST IT ?
On the attack side, criminals use AI to make scams more convincing. The old “Dear Sir, I am a prince” emails are gone. Now the emails copy your boss’s tone. They reference real projects. They look legit.
Criminals also use AI to automate attacks. They can test millions of password combinations. They can find outdated software across the internet in hours.
It’s an arms race. Whoever has the better AI wins.
For Nigeria, this matters a lot because our digital economy is exploding.
THE PRESSURE ON NIGERIA’S DIGITAL ECONOMY
Think about the last 5 years.
Opay, Moniepoint, PalmPay, Kuda, and dozens of fintechs came in. E-commerce blew up. Government services moved online. Even market traders in Computer Village now collect transfer.
That’s good for growth. But it also creates more targets.
One breach can wipe out customer savings. It can shut down a hospital. It can leak data for millions of people.
Regulators like CBN and NITDA have pushed stricter rules. But rules alone don’t stop hackers. You need tools that can match the speed of attacks.
That’s why a local solution matters.
Digital Encode understands Nigerian fraud patterns. They understand USSD, mobile money, and the kind of social engineering that works here. An imported tool from the US or Europe may not.
HOW DEPAS AI GIVES EARLIER WARNING
The biggest advantage of automated testing is that it’s proactive, not reactive.
Instead of waiting for a breach and then doing damage control, companies can find and fix problems early.
For big organizations this is critical. Banks push updates every week. Fintechs launch new features daily. Every update can create a new vulnerability.
If you only do security testing once a year, you’ll miss a lot.
DEPAS AI is designed to run continuously. It keeps checking in the background. When a new weakness appears, it alerts the team immediately.
That shift from “fix after attack” to “fix before attack” is what experts have been calling for.
NIGERIAN COMPANIES JOIN THE GLOBAL AI RACE
For a long time, the AI conversation has been dominated by OpenAI, Google, and Chinese tech giants.
But African companies are now building too.
Digital Encode entering cybersecurity with AI shows that Nigerian firms are not just consuming technology. They are creating it.
And local problems need local solutions.
A US security tool might not understand how fraud works in Lagos. It might not be optimized for low bandwidth. It might not account for how Nigerians use USSD banking.
A Nigerian company gets it. They live in the same environment as the attackers and the victims.
This also creates jobs. More cybersecurity analysts. More AI engineers. More reason for young developers to build at home.
THE LIMITS OF AI: HUMANS STILL MATTER
As powerful as DEPAS AI sounds, it’s not a magic button.
Technology alone cannot stop every attack. You still need people.
Someone has to look at the results and decide what to patch first. Someone has to update systems without breaking other things. Someone has to respond when an incident happens.
And the truth is, many attacks don’t target technology. They target people.
Phishing is still number 1. Someone sends a fake email. A staff clicks the link. Game over.
Weak passwords are still everywhere. People still share OTPs on the phone.
No AI can stop a human from making that mistake.
So the best way to use DEPAS AI is as a force multiplier. Let the AI handle the boring, repetitive scanning. Let humans focus on strategy, training, and response.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BUSINESSES BIG AND SMALL
Big banks already have security teams. But small businesses are often the easiest targets.
A small e-commerce store in Ikeja might be running WordPress with an old plugin. They might be storing customer data in Excel. To a hacker, that’s an open door.
If Digital Encode can offer DEPAS AI as an affordable subscription, SMEs can benefit too. Paying 50k-100k monthly for continuous testing is cheaper than losing customer trust after one breach.
For customers, better security also means more confidence. People use digital services more when they feel safe.
As Nigeria pushes toward a $1 trillion digital economy, cybersecurity has to be part of the foundation. Just like power, internet, and payments.
THE FUTURE OF AI AND CYBERSECURITY
The next 3 to 5 years will define this fight.
Attackers will get smarter with AI. Defenders will get smarter too. The gap between them will decide who wins.
We’ll see more automation. Faster attacks. Faster defenses.
Digital Encode’s DEPAS AI is one of the first big moves from Nigeria in this space. It may not be perfect, but it’s a start.
It shows that Nigerian tech companies are stepping up. Not just building apps, but building infrastructure that keeps those apps safe.
THE BIGGER CONVERSATION
Beyond one product, this is about trust.
For Nigeria’s digital economy to grow, people have to trust it. They have to believe their money is safe in a fintech app. That their data is safe with a hospital. That a government portal won’t leak their NIN.
Every breach erodes that trust. Every proactive tool rebuilds it.
That’s why tools like DEPAS AI matter. Not because they will stop 100% of attacks, but because they raise the bar.
They force attackers to work harder. And they give defenders a fighting chance.
WHAT BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD DO TODAY
If you run a business in Nigeria, here are 3 things to take from this:
1. STOP WAITING FOR A BREACH
Security is not an IT problem. It’s a business problem. Budget for it like marketing.
2. TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE
Your staff is your first line of defense. Teach them to spot phishing. Enforce 2FA. Ban weak passwords.
3. TEST CONTINUOUSLY
Don’t do security once a year. Do it all the time. Use tools, hire experts, and run simulations.
CONCLUSION
Digital Encode’s DEPAS AI won’t make front page news outside tech circles. But for the companies that use it, it could be the difference between a near-miss and a disaster.
Nigeria’s internet will keep growing. More users, more apps, more data. The question is whether we can keep it safe.
With AI on the side of defenders, the answer is starting to look like yes.
Not because AI replaces people. But because AI gives people better tools to protect what we’ve built.
The war is not over. But now, we have a new weapon.
By Solomon Emmanuel | Zpothub News
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