Stakeholder collaboration crucial to curbing cyber threats — Cyber Security Expert
The Senior Manager of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Mr Isaac Socrates Mensah, has called for increased collaboration among stakeholders to curb cyber-attacks and promote a safe cyberspace.
He said one institution alone could not promote cybersecurity, and it therefore behoved all stakeholders to work together to stem the activities of illegal hackers, cyber fraudsters and other cyber-related crimes.
Mr Mensah, who made the call at the MTN Bright Conversations in Accra on Friday, said although the CSA had instituted strong measures to combat cyber-attacks and fraud, the menace was still on the rise.
The programme, which formed part of MTN’s Cyber Safety Month activities, was on the theme “Promoting a Safe Cyberspace.”
He said there had been an increase in cyber attacks and online fraud, particularly romance scams, recruitment and shopping fraud, as well as online blackmail.
He disclosed that between January and July this year, the CSA had pulled down about 200 fake websites and blocked 1,300 SIM cards used for fraudulent activities.
Mr Mensah said the Authority had undertaken several initiatives including the development of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038), the review of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, and the establishment of incident response and reporting mechanisms.
He explained that those efforts had contributed to Ghana’s ranking as a Tier One nation on the International Telecommunication Union Global Cybersecurity Index.
Touching on the state of Ghana’s cybersecurity, Mr Mensah explained that the country had made significant progress but still faced challenges, as cybercrime activities continued to rise due to increased internet penetration and low public awareness.
He mentioned that the most reported incidents to the CSA included online fraud, unauthorised access to social media and messaging accounts, phishing, and website cloning, particularly of government portals.
Mr Mensah noted that criminals were increasingly using artificial intelligence to create fake online personas to defraud unsuspecting victims, adding that many people continued to fall for recruitment and investment scams.
He said the CSA continued to collaborate with law enforcement agencies such as the Economic and Organised Crime Office and the Financial Intelligence Centre to investigate and shut down cybercrime syndicates, including those operated by foreign nationals.
For his part, the Senior Manager for Legal and Compliance at the CSA, Mr Seth Gyapong Oware, said the Authority was enhancing education, strengthening collaboration among stakeholders, and improving the legal framework to protect the country’s digital space.
He emphasised that hackers were constantly innovating, hence the need for continuous public sensitisation and cooperation among government, the private sector and citizens.
The Senior Manager of Enterprise Information Security and Governance of MTN Ghana, Mrs Jacqueline Hanson-Kotei, said cybersecurity was no longer just a technical issue but a strategic and national resilience concern, adding that it had become a personal responsibility for everyone who uses digital services.
She said the programme was meant to intensify public education on cybersecurity.
Mrs Hanson-Kotei stressed that the programme was to get closer to the CSA and know some of the programmes they were running to promote a safe cyberspace.
By: Kingsley Asare
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