The Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has called for greater efforts to be made towards protecting the country from cyber-attacks.
She made this call during an interview on the sidelines of the launch of the 2019 edition of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in Accra on Monday.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister cautioned against the mentality that Ghana is not in the sight of online hackers as this year alone,”the statistics show that the spate of cyber-attacks is growing in the country and on the continent”.
“We are vulnerable and we need to act proactively to protect our digital infrastructure,” she added.
To this end, she said that government would go on a fundraising drive to generate funds to beef up the country’s digital infrastructure and systems.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful also stated it would be foolhardy on our part to think that we will never come to the attention of cyber criminals as the country is under constant cyber-attack explaining that, “Over $105 million were lost to cyber-attacks this year alone.”
On his part, National Cyber Security Advisor, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, denounced claims that the government was going to use the Communication Service Tax (CST) to fund cyber security for the banks and telcos.
Instead, he said the CST would be used “to finance the implementation of Ghana’s National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCSC).”
European Union representative to Ghana, Dianna Accouncia, in her speech also said, “The digitization offers many opportunities for a better future, but it also comes with serious weaknesses which can make individuals and organizations the targets of criminals operating in cyberspace “.
The National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an annual celebration by the Ministry of Communication meant to increase awareness of the general public on the need to be conscious about Cybersecurity.
On the sidelines of the lunch was a meeting of Information Ministries and diplomats from the West African sub-region on how to collaborate in the fight against the growing threat of cyber-attacks.