The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned Nigerians of the many risks involved in using the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access contents, especially social media.
The ruling party said the network is vulnerable to the heinous activities of criminal hackers who can steal data and money in bank accounts.
The Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, John Akpanudoedehe, gave the warning in a statement on Tuesday.
He cautioned legitimate private and public entities operating in the country to avoid using VPN, which according to him is not adequately secured.
Akpanudoedehe said; “This advisory is necessary because, despite the massive compliance by Nigerians to the federal government’s suspension of Twitter operations in the country, some individuals in the country have resorted to VPN to assess Twitter whose unwholesome activities were detrimental to peace and public order in the country.
“Those using the VPN are advised to desist in their own interests because of its risks, which include data theft, illegal access to strategic company documents and possible economic espionage.
“The APC emphasizes that VPN users expose their devices to vulnerabilities because the network allows third parties access to personal data and changes user location to another country which compromises data integrity.
“Your record can be traced to another country that is not yours, with all the risks that entail.
“Many individuals and organizations using VPN have lost their investments after compromising the security of their devices.
“The APC strongly advises that Nigerians should avoid installing or using VPN to access social networking sites in order to protect their privacy and security online.
“This is in our individual and collective interest.”