Professional Design of a Threat Intelligence Sharing Platform for Nigerian Financial Sector Institutions

Coordinated cyber threat intelligence sharing among Nigerian financial institutions would significantly improve the sector's collective ability to detect and respond to emerging threats, and professionally designing such a platform addresses a critical gap in the national financial cybersecurity ecosystem. This study designed a threat intelligence sharing platform for Nigerian financial sector institutions, drawing on assessment of current information sharing practices among 20 banks, fintechs, and insurance companies in Lagos and Abuja. A professional platform design methodology was applied, incorporating review of the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center FS-ISAC model, STIX and TAXII threat intelligence exchange standards, CBN information sharing guidelines, and structured consultations with 15 financial sector CISOs and 8 threat intelligence specialists. Assessment of current sharing practices confirmed that only 31.0 percent of institutions shared any threat intelligence, predominantly through informal bilateral relationships. Barriers to formalised sharing included legal liability concerns (67.0 percent), competitive sensitivity (52.0 percent), and absent technical standards (71.0 percent). The platform designed specifies a hub-and-spoke architecture with NITDA oversight, anonymised institution contribution mechanisms, STIX/TAXII technical exchange standards, legal safe-harbour provisions, governance committee structure, and integration with global threat feeds. Expert review by ten threat intelligence and financial sector security specialists confirmed the platform's technical and governance viability. The study recommends CBN mandate participation in the platform as a licence condition for Tier 1 and Tier 2 banks.

Keywords: threat intelligence sharing, financial sector, FS-ISAC, Nigeria, cybersecurity collaboration