Ghana is to observe October as the Cyber Security Awareness Month. The awareness creation month which began on the 1st of October, will end on the 31st of October, 2018. The National Cyber Security Awareness Programme for 2018 has been extended to one full month as compared to previous years.
The event organised by the National Cyber Security Secretariat of the Ministry of Communications will also be observed in all the 10 regions of Ghana.
A Cyber Security Adviser at the National Cyber Security Centre, Ministry of Communications, Albert Antwi Boasiako, said this in an interview with host Ibrahim Kwarteng on Radio Ghana’s current affairs programme, ‘Behind The News’.
The theme for this year event is “A Safer Digital Ghana”.
Mr. Antwi Boasiako explained that the extension of the period to one month is to ensure that the awareness creation on cyber security benefits all Ghanaians. He added that October is marked globally as Cyber Security Awareness month.
He described cyber security to be “taking specific measures, being technical or non technical to ensure that data and systems are secured”.
The Cyber Security Adviser stated that the kind of contacts established, the data acquired and the act of some malicious employees who abuse privileges given them are some of the risks that people are exposed to online.
He said over the years, the National Cyber Security Secretariat has measured the effectiveness of the awareness creation programme by the number of cases reported, number of victims and companies who have invested in training their employees and creating awareness on cyber security to their clients.
Mr. Antwi Boasiako re-emphasized that to reduce the number of people who are victimized through cyber fraud, there is the need to increase awareness on cyber security.
He added that cyber security involves almost every one; the market woman, business men, government officials, and even students. He said that since the world is now inter-connected through digital devices, cyber security should be the responsibility of all.
He urged Ghanaians to be mindful of their activities online and also protect the gadgets and data they use.
He said the government is an enabler for cyber security development and therefore has the responsibility of giving national direction by implementing policies geared towards creating awareness on cyber security.
The development of the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy in 2011 was necessitated by the actual and anticipated threats from cyber crime. This led the government to direct the Ministry of Communications to work with other ministries, departments, agencies and international partners to develop national responses to address cyber security issues in the country.
Consequently, the Ministry established, the National Cyber Security Secretariat to co-ordinate national efforts towards addressing Ghana’s cyber security challenges and securing the country’s cyber space.
Since 2016, the Ministry of Communications has been holding the National Cyber Security Awareness events to build on the successes of the previous ones.
Story By: Nhyira Kwabi.
