By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Oct. 3, GNA -Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, says Ghana has made significant progress in internet penetration in the last five years.
The Groupe Special Mobile Association’s Connectivity Index’s 2023 Report scored Ghana 86.69 per cent in Online Security and ranked it third in Africa with a score of 51.4 per cent.
She said the INTERPOL Global Crime Trend Summary Report of 2022 highlightedransomware, phishing, online scams, and hacking as significant threats worldwide.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said this in a speech read on her behalf Madam Ama Pomaa Boateng, the Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitalization in Accra at the 2023 National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Accra on the theme: “Promoting a Culture of Digital Safety.”
This year’s event is to promote a culture of cybersecurity among children, the youth, and Ghanaians in general about the importance of digital safety, online risk, and potential consequences of unsafe digital practices and to encourage the reporting of cybercrimes and cybersecurity incidents.
It is also to highlight the importance of cultivating collective mindset and behaviour that values and promotes responsible online practices, cybersecurity awareness and the protection of personal information.
The Minister said the reports were evidence of the risks that accompanied the opportunities presented by digital space, and we could not gloss over their devastating impact on the nation.
These developments, as well as several others, within cyberspace across the world, have collectively informed the choice of the theme for this year’s event.
She said this year’s event was expected to help create synergy between public and private sector stakeholder groups to intensify awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and the inherent risks associated with it.
The Minister said the accumulation of the knowledge shared through this year’s event would help the public, businesses, and government appreciate the ongoing work of the Cyber Security Authority, such as the need to protect the country’s Critical Information Infrastructure.
The Authority has taken several key measures, including the establishment of a Directive for the Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure (CCI), which highlights the baseline cybersecurity requirements, incident response and reporting mechanisms, as well as audit and compliance procedures for all designated CII owners.
Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, the Director-General of The Cyber Security Authority, said now more than ever, cybersecurity had become a priority for nations across the globe due to the fast-evolving nature of cybercrime and the shift of criminals from traditional to more complex digital crimes.
He said with advancing technology, crime had accelerated, and criminals had learnt to adapt and evolve, and it was extremely important to note that cybercrime comes in many forms, including hacking, identity theft, and phishing to malware attacks.
“With a click of a button malicious actors can now carry out cyberthreats that drastically affect the citizens, businesses, and governments,” he said.
Dr Antwi-Boasiako said to propel the digital growth of the nation, “we must pay rapt attention to the nuances of the operations of these criminals. Our approach toward digital resilience must be backed by science as opposed to ad hoc measures.”
He said the country must also be deliberate as this may demand that some sacrifices and investments be made.
He said the African continent was experiencing rapid economic development and over the past twenty years, the combined GDP of the continent has increased exponentially from US$ 695.88 billion in 2002 to USD2.98 trillion in 2022 with GDP growth for 2023 estimated between 3 to 4 per cent to exceed US$4 trillion by 2027.
He said the cumulative growth of African economies reflected the continent’s huge potential to contribute to an increase in demand for Internet and digital services.
He said there had been an overwhelming economic shift across the continent, with many countries digitising essential sectors of their economies.
The Director-General said such a transformation presented the continent with a vast number of benefits and opportunities to leverage.
He said the significance of cybersecurity awareness had never been more apparent in this modern era as it went a long way in shoring up the country’s security and promoted education on the existing threats to encourage more proactive and responsive measures.
“This can be seen in Ghana’s improvement towards cybersecurity development over the last few years,” he added.
GNA