The Acting Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako has expressed worry over how many children are becoming prone to criminal online practices in tye country.
According to him, such exposures are becoming detrimental to their development.
Addressing Journalists at the media launch of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month in Accra, he said "Ladies and gentlemen, the internet offers several opportunities for improving the lives of children through access to information which is beneficial to their education, health and social wellbeing. Many children are, however, becoming prone to criminal online practices which are detrimental to their development"
He also added that the Cyber Security Authority, as a regulator, is committed to ensuring the protection of children online per its mandate in the Cybersecurity Act 2020.
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako stressed that, the Child Online Protection Framework has been revised to ensure the utmost safety of our children online.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as part of measures to effectively implement the Cybersecurity Act, awareness creation cannot be over emphasised. The CSA therefore seeks to leverage on the 2022 edition of the annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) to engage and partner with stakeholders in the public and private sectors to implement key cybersecurity regulations and to build capacity among critical stakeholders"
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako hinted that at the end of the month-long event, which is scheduled for October 1-31, NCA expects to have improved the awareness amongst key stakeholders of the regulatory provisions of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) leading to a culture of cybersecurity regulatory compliance, as well as effective operations and management of reporting and responding to cybersecurity incidents among stakeholders especially the sectoral CERTs.
"Cybersecurity Regulations for Sustained Digital Transformation. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the proliferation of cyber-attacks targeting individuals, businesses and critical infrastructure has led to the establishment of several mandatory cybersecurity regulations"
Explaining further, the Acting Director-General mentioned that globally, regulatory compliance has become one of the most effective and reliable strategies to mitigate cyber risks within the industry.
He noted that, the implementation of cybersecurity regulations is imperative to deal with both existing and emerging cyber threats which have the potential to undermine the digital dividends expected from the country’s digital economy.
"The Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) provides the regulatory framework to promote cybersecurity development in the country. The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has commenced a number of regulatory activities including the protection of Critical Information Infrastructures, pursuant to Section 35 to 40 of Act 1038; licensing of Cybersecurity Service Providers pursuant to Sections of 49 to 56 and regulations on cybersecurity incident reporting and response, pursuant to Sections 41 to 48 of the Cybersecurity Act, 2022"
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is anticipated that, starting January 2023, a business, a firm or an individual will not be able to offer cybersecurity services unless the entity or the individual is licensed or accredited by the Authority"
"In addition, designated Critical Information Infrastructure Owners shall be subjected to mandatory audit and compliance checks against the Directive for the Protection of Critical Information Infrastructures which was adopted on October 1, 2021. These are part of the new regulations and measures being implemented pursuant to the Cybersecurity Act, 2020"
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako hinted that the Authority is being guided by the Governing Board and also through the Joint Cybersecurity Committee to approach cybersecurity regulations from a collaborative perspective.
"We believe collaborative regulations holds the key to bring both the public and private sector stakeholders together towards achieving a secure and resilient digital Ghana"
"As part of the NCSAM 2022 celebrations which is being launched today under the theme Regulating Cybersecurity: A Public-Private Sector Collaborative Approach”, the Authority will engage with stakeholders including public consultations for inputs into the various regulations which are expected to take full effect starting January 2023"
On her part, the Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitization, Ama Pomaa Boateng said "Ladies and gentlemen, the Government is committed to its digitalisation efforts in attaining a reliable and robust digital economy. As a matter of fact, the Government’s desire to accelerate inclusive growth through greater efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the delivery of public services has led to the implementation of various digitalisation projects including Mobile Money Interoperability; a Universal QR Code Payment System, GhQR; a National Identification System; the e-Passport System; the Ghana.gov infrastructure; and the Paperless Port System, among others"
She admitted that the digital space is prone to varying cyber-attacks, adding that it must be a concern for everyone.
"In October 2021, INTERPOL reported that cybercrime reduced the GDP of African countries by more than 10%, which was an equivalent of $4.12 billion"
"In Ghana, there has been an increase in cyber-related incidents and crimes due to the over-reliance on Information Communications Technology (ICT) for socio-economic activities. The most prevalent cyber incidents received in 2020 by the Cyber Security Authority through the Cybercrime/ Cybersecurity Incident Reporting Points of Contact, launched in October 2019, were online fraud, online impersonation, and the publication of non-consensual intimate images. The overall prevailing incidents reported by businesses, particularly Small-Medium Enterprises, during the period was online fraud which was 63% of all reported crimes"
The Deputy Minister mentioned that cybersecurity is key to sustaining Ghana’s digitalisation agenda.
"Therefore, it is crucial to have effective measures to protect our critical information infrastructure, coordinate and respond to cybersecurity incidents, and to develop a cybersecurity culture in the interest of our socio-economic development"
She added that as part of government’s effort to create awareness on cybersecurity matters in the country, the annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month event has been been institutionalised since October 2018.
Additionally, the passage of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038), establishes the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) whose mandate is to regulate cybersecurity in the country.
"In line with the mandate of the CSA, the theme for this year’s celebration of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month is, “Regulating Cybersecurity: A Public-Private Sector Collaborative Approach”. The objective is to enhance public-private sector understanding of cybersecurity regulations and build synergies among all relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance with cybersecurity regulations"
"Government is an enabler in the development of cybersecurity, and without a shadow of doubt, committed to this mandate. We as stakeholders, however, have a collective responsibility to protect our digital ecosystem through collaborative efforts in regulating the industry"
Taking his turn, the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O), Ing Kenneth Ashigbey challenged the public to be vigilant to avoid falling victims to fraudsters.
He also appealed to public to avoid giving out their data freely to people.
He stressed that once such practices are taken into good consideration, no one will fall victim to scammers and their tricks.
President of ISACA Accra Chapter, Daniel Gyampo appealed to parents to pay extra attention to things their kids do while online.
He was optimistic that once that is taken into account, children will not be prone to criminal online practices.
Background
Global digitalisation trends have changed the manner in which businesses are conducted today, created opportunities, and provided enabling environments for economic growth.
Recent Statistics indicate that over 62% (4.95 billion) of the world’s population have access to the internet.
In Ghana, internet penetration has increased exponentially from 2.31 million in 2012 to 17 million users in 2022, that is 53% of the population; the average time spent per internet user on mobile phones alone is about 5 hours daily.
The Cyber Dimension of our Society
Ghana’s Internet population stands at a 16.99million constituting 53% of the total population as of the first quarter of 2022 (February 2022) according to research conducted by Hootsuite and We Are Social – two of the globally recognised social media management platforms.
This development has translated to the ranking of our social media usage/presence 3rd globally, only behind Nigeria and the Philippines which are ranked number 1 and 2, respectively.
Specifically, the research revealed that about a 11.18million users use the internet to access sports betting sites, 10.79million use it to access news sites, 10.68million for social media sites while only a 2.57million uses it to visit informational sites.
The above statistics is of relevance to us – as our citizens connect to the internet, they are exposed to cyber-attacks.
Why Cyber Security Development
The 2019 edition of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) was organised under the theme, Demonstrating Ghana’s Cybersecurity Readiness.
This was to demonstrate the country’s level of cybersecurity preparedness.
A total of about 40,000 high school children, across all the regions were sensitised through a collaboration initiative with UNICEF Ghana.
At the height of COVID-19 in 2020, the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) was organised under the theme, Cybersecurity in the Era of COVID-19 to demonstrate the country’s cybersecurity readiness in challenging times.
This edition witnessed the participation of over 100,000 stakeholders locally and internationally.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
Comments