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National Cybersecurity Advisor, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako
Ghana has so far registered a total of 11,550 cybercrime cases since launching its Points of Contact (PoC) for reporting cybercrime incidents in October 2019.
This, according to the National Cybersecurity Advisor, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, has been achieved as a result of the improvement of the work of the National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) with that of the PoC.
The PoC was launched in October 2019 by the Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful to facilitate the reporting of cybercrime and cybersecurity incidents by the public.
Cyber Security Awareness Month
Speaking at the formal opening of National Cyber Security Awareness Month 2020 and the launch of the Child Online Protection Portal (COP) in Accra on Thursday, October 1, 2020, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako said that the Points of Contact are especially crucial as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reporting portal will increase.
He noted that the CERT of the National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) has also produced a series of notices, incident alerts and vulnerability notes for the public and allied agencies of the CERTs, including the Computer Emergency Response Team of the National Authority of Communications (NCA-CERT). ), for the telecommunications sector, and the Bank of Ghana Security Operations Center (BOG-SOC), for the financial sector; which were established in 2018.
That, Dr. Antwi-Bosiako noted, has further enhanced the country’s incident response capabilities.
According to him, the country’s cyberspace was becoming more secure as a result of various awareness-raising activities that had been created by the Ministry of Communications and the NCSC.
“I am confident that there will be a significant increase in the use of Contact Points to report cybersecurity incidents and cases of cybercrime,” he said, adding that the advances that the country is making in the area of cybersecurity have been recognized internationally.
Recognition
That, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako said, has received praise from “the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, UNICEF and the ECOWAS Commission, among others, and the ECOWAS Commission called on Ghana to lead security efforts. cybernetics in the African subregion “.
He added that “Ghana’s cybersecurity readiness is expected to average 50% in the 2020 rankings in light of critical interventions made to improve our readiness.”
He noted that “Ghana was recently nominated to serve on the Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) of the Global Internet Forum to Combat Terrorism (GIFCT), with Ghana being the only African country.”
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako explained that “while we have to be sincere to admit that we have not got there yet as the journey is still in progress, I believe that we must also be honest in our recognition of these achievements, which are critical milestones for that we work together to take advantage of that. “
He expressed the hope that National Cybersecurity Awareness Month will help establish and strengthen people’s awareness of cybersecurity, adding that “it is imperative that we continue to improve security protocols as cyber incidents are also expected to increase.”
He again expressed optimism that “this awareness month will also continue to strengthen our formal and informal cooperation at the local and international levels, to bridge divisions and foster unity among members of the cyber community, while projecting Ghana’s cyber security efforts. globally “.
Cybersecurity bill
In a speech read on her behalf, Ms Owusu-Ekuful said that to further improve the cybersecurity regulatory regime in the country, her ministry has submitted a cybersecurity bill to the Cabinet for consideration, adding that “Parliament is expected to consider this bill before the end of the year.”
According to her, “our work on cybersecurity at the national level has won the admiration and praise of the international community”, and said that “the Council of Europe has recognized Ghana as the center for capacity building on cybercrime in the English-speaking ECOWAS region “.
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