NITDA Warns of DeepLoad — New AI-Powered Malware Targeting Nigerian Firms

NITDA has warned Nigerian businesses about DeepLoad — a new malware strain that uses AI to slip past traditional antivirus software and hijack user credentials and passwords from enterprise networks.

What makes DeepLoad different is how it gets into systems. It borrows the ClickFix technique: a user sees a fake browser prompt, clicks what looks like a fix, and unknowingly runs the malicious code themselves. Once inside, AI-generated scripts help it move laterally across a network without tripping alarms.

The agency is recommending real-time network monitoring, mandatory security training for staff, prompt patching, and advanced endpoint protection as immediate countermeasures.

Security researchers see this as part of a wider shift — AI is making cyberattacks cheaper and harder to detect, and DeepLoad is a sign that Nigerian organisations are squarely in the crosshairs.

NITDA has asked all organisations to treat the advisory as urgent and review their security posture now.

Sources: Channels TV, Nairametrics, Premium Times, Infosecurity Magazine