Lack of successful investigations and prosecutions leading to cybercrime – NCSC

Crime and punishment of Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2020-10-21

The director of the National Center for Cyber ​​Security, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, has urged the government to prioritize the implementation of measures that allow the criminal justice sector to investigate and prosecute cyber criminals.

According to him, the lack of successful investigations and prosecutions of cybercrime related cases has led to an influx of cybercriminals in the country.

Speaking at a forum on cybercrime and electronic evidence for criminal justice officials, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako explained: “The reason criminal justice sector investigations have been such an overwhelming challenge is because developing a case against a cybercriminal does not take the form of traditional crimes that occur outside cyberspace “

“This requires the collection of electronic evidence which is very sensitive and could disappear over time because the authorities responsible for handling such cases generally face a difficult task in drawing conclusions due to jurisdictional and cross-border challenges,” explained Dr. Antwi-Boasiako.

In addition, the lack of relevant and up-to-date legislation to address issues of digital forensics and electronic evidence, the relevant knowledge and experience of investigating, prosecuting and judicial authorities also poses a challenge, as well as the lack of national and international cooperation agreements. . to address existing and emerging cybercrime trends, ”he added.

Dr. Antwi-Boasiako noted that the government through the Ministry of Communications’ National Cyber ​​Security Center (NCSC) has introduced a number of interventions to address the challenges.

“Through our collaboration with our partners, we have built capacity in the criminal justice sector, particularly training investigators, prosecutors and judges on cybercrime and electronic evidence, and the facilitators of this course have been accredited by the Council. from Europe as qualified trainers who are now leading capacity development efforts across the country, ”he stated.

Meanwhile, a report by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service indicated that Ghana lost $ 105 million and $ 9.8 million to cybercrime in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has revealed that a bill aimed at revising Ghana’s National Cyber ​​Security Policy will be presented to Parliament for consideration before the end of 2020.

The bill, according to the minister, will further improve the regulatory regime and interventions for cybersecurity in Ghana.