More than 100 million US dollars lost due to cyber fraud in two years

Company News on Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Source: thebftonline.com

2019-01-22

As Ghana seeks to advance its "digital economy," cybersecurity experts have said that much more effort is needed to make the country ready for the threats posed by digitalization.

With an Internet penetration rate of 35% – an annual growth of three million since 2015 – out of a population of about 29.2 million inhabitants, it is feared that non Application of some basic Internet security protocols exacerbates the levels of vulnerability of many people in cyberspace, including organizations.

For example, it appeared that in August 2018, about 60% of the cases reported to the police were related to cyber fraud, which resulted in a loss of about $ 97 million to the US. 39; era. In addition, between 2016 and 2017 alone, approximately $ 104 million was lost due to computer fraud.

This evolution occurs as a result of several cybersecurity issues identified in the country. Some of these challenges include low awareness of cybersecurity; absence of cyber-intelligence with all its complements; and the lack of standard digital legal laboratories, among others.

Chief Superintendent Dr. Herbert Gustav Yankson, Director of the Cybercrime Unit of the Ghana Police Service, observed that, based on available statistics on cybercrime, it is unlikely that the rate of cybercrime decreases.

He notes that people easily give too much information on the Internet, especially with the increasing use of technology in various sectors of the economy. He added that everything that was loaded in cyberspace was easily accessible by other people, including people with malicious intent or through the unintentional transfer of details to an erroneous recipient.

On this basis, he indicated that the number of cases of badtorsion was also increasing, 10 cases having already been reported this year. He therefore insisted that things that are not intended for public consumption should be totally kept out of cyberspace.

"The fact is, when these cases are reported, we can eliminate some of them, but we can not guarantee who would have had access to the data," he said.

In particular, he called on women to stop sharing nudity photos with anyone, no matter what the circumstances.

Mr. Gustav Yankson also emphasized the need to strengthen preparedness for the fight against cybercrime. This, he said, should not be left to the government alone, but rather to a collective responsibility.

Mr. Yankson spoke at a seminar on "Security-Related Programs" organized by the Institute for Distance Learning (IDL) of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi .

The seminar was set up for students offering MSc Cyber ​​Security & Digital Forensics, MSc Security & Justice Administration, MSc Information Technology and MSc / MPhil Forensic Science from all centers in the country. The aim of the seminar was to provide students with practical information about the chosen program.

Prof. Imoro Braimah, a professor at the KNUST College of Humanities and Social Sciences, lamented that Ghana has gained notoriety in cybercrime.

In his view, despite the significant benefits of rapid change resulting from emerging technologies, abuse, misuse and misapplication pose an even greater threat.

"The threat to life and property; threat to our democracies; threat to the banking sector, are all real. So, go ahead and explore the potential of technology for the sake of saying that it represents for humanity while trying to protect ourselves, as well as the population, from the negative aspects. "