Ghana contributing to fight cybercrimes - Deputy Communications Minister

The Deputy Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Ms. Ama Pomaa Boateng, has said Ghana has contributed significantly to the global fight against cybercrime.

She said over 5,000 cybercrime incidents that could have caused victims’ losses were prevented and several amounts of money were saved, owing to the Cybercrime/Cyber security Incident Reporting Points of Contact (PoC) launched in October 2019.

The PoC, according to the Minister, has provided citizens with multiple avenues and channels to report cyber-related incidents and to receive assistance and guidance from the Cyber Security Authority (CSA).

Ms. Boateng said this at the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) launch on Monday in Accra.

"This year alone, as of the end of the third quarter, a total of 9,769 contacts have been received through the various points of contact of which 431 were recorded as actual Cyber security incidents and 5,389 as direct advisories,” she added.

She said the Ministry's development of the Computer Emergency Response Ecosystem has brought improvement in incident reporting and response, specifically in the financial and telecommunications sectors.

To mitigate the occurrence of cybercrime, Ms Boateng noted that the government has collaborated with the World Bank and the Council of Europe to organize capacity-building programmes for judges, prosecutors, and other important stakeholders in cybercrime prevention and electronic evidence gathering.

“This move seeks to facilitate an effective prosecution of cybercrimes and computer-aided offences,” Ms. Boateng said.

According to her, these developments established the critical pillars of Ghana’s national Cyber security development.

“Consequently, the 2020 ITU Global Cyber security Index (GCI) report scored Ghana's Cyber security development at 86.69%, a major improvement from our earlier rating in 2017 which was 32.6%.” she hinted.

the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) aimed at promoting capacity building and awareness creation to ultimately improve cyber security as well as strengthen the country’s national cyber resilience.

In July 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed the then Ministry of Communications to oversee Cyber security development in Ghana. Under that effect, the National Cyber Security Secretariat was established to coordinate Ghana’s Cyber security efforts by implementing strategic initiatives for a secure and resilient digital Ghana.

The Secretariat transitioned into the National Cyber Security Centre and is now, the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), following the passage of the Cyber Security Act, 2020 (Act 1038) in December 2020.

The period leading to the Act's passage witnessed several critical interventions, as the government anticipated the need for robust Cyber security to support the country’s digital transformation agenda.

Again, the Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention, and the African Union Convention on Cyber Security & Personal Data Protection also known as the Malabo Convention were adopted and ratified by Parliament.

Subsequently, the annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) was also institutionalized, making October a month for cyber security awareness creation each year.