Ghana's government steps up national cybersecurity efforts

Company News of Thursday, February 21, 2019

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2019-02-21

Cybercrime costs millions of dollars in damage every year to governments and organizations around the world. Faced with the increasing number of ransomware and the increasing sophistication of hacker attacks, Ghana has decided to become one of the leading countries in this fight by implementing a series of new institutional and security measures. legislative.

Hackers cost Ghana $ 230 million in less than two years

According to recent research, the activities of cybercriminals have had a devastating impact on Ghana's economy over the past two years. The Cyber ​​Crime Unit within the Ghana Police Service has released detailed information on the approximate cost of $ 230 million that cybercrime has brought to the country between 2016 and August 2018.

In 2016 alone, the damage amounted to more than $ 35 million, while in 2017, they nearly doubled to more than $ 69 million. Bank losses reached 40% of this amount, or $ 28 million, proving that large financial institutions are a prime target for hackers looking for ways to steal money.

According to the cases reported to the unit, between the beginning of the year 2018 and the month of August of the same year, when the report was made public, $ 97 million had already been lost . This shows that while the government is taking steps to raise awareness of cybersecurity, public defenses are still lagging behind. As explained by the police, 60% of the cases examined as part of their research were related to fraud.

The main objective of hackers is to get their hands on sensitive information in order to use them to achieve their criminal goals – stealing money, committing identity theft or launching new attacks. This is why more and more companies are investing in data security, seeking to uncover hidden risks in unreliable databases and to clbadify sensitive data in order to implement security measures. appropriate.

Government implements cybersecurity initiatives

In this context, the government has decided to take steps to play its role by reinforcing our vigilance and our institutional responsiveness against cybercriminals. Last October, the Ministry of Communications designated National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, implementing a national campaign entitled "Safer Digital Ghana" – at which the Cybercrime Unit was established. published its report on the current situation in the country.

As part of its long-standing goal of digital security, the ministry has also established an administrative center to coordinate cyber security efforts in the public and private sectors, the National Cyber ​​Security Center.

The World Bank and the National Internal Communications Authority also played a central role in the creation of the Center. The government is focusing its efforts on protecting the financial sector and has recently launched a directive on information security and cyber-media in cooperation with the Bank of Ghana and the National Association of Bankers.

It has also acceded to two key international cybersecurity instruments, the Budapest Convention against Cybercrime and the Malabo Convention on Cybersecurity and Protection of Personal Data.

Recently, Communications Minister Owusu-Ekuful announced that the ministry is also developing legislation that would improve the cybersecurity landscape in Ghana as a whole.

It seems that the government is taking concrete steps to improve the institutional framework in the fight against cybercrime. The question now is whether the private sector is also willing to invest more resources in the fight against hackers and strengthen the cybersecurity mechanisms of the industry.