As part of governments initiative to maintain the security of Ghana’s critical infrastructures, internet services and the entire digital ecosystem, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Monday urged all Ghanaians to support the effort of the new cyber-security policy to achieve a safer Ghana.

Dr. Bawumia said until the country work on the cyber security policy, the perception that digital services across the country are not secure would negatively impact businesses and the digital economic effort.

Speaking at the launch of the National Cyber Security Awareness Programme, Dr. Bawumia said “Indeed our critical national information communication infrastructure such as the banking system, energy services, telecommunication our national defences are now depending on our ability as a country to secure this infrastructure.

It is not therefore surprising that both government and businesses around the world are searching for effective and efficient cyber defence strategies.”

‘Safer Digital Ghana’ campaign has been launched to respond to the increasing spate of cyber-crimes and cyber security breaches which could potentially undermine the gains from Ghana’s digitalization agenda.

The campaign focuses on four key thematic areas – children, the public, business and the government.

The national cyber security awareness creation initiative is expected to enhance the cyber security mindset and culture of citizens and it will be implemented by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) which has been set up by the government to coordinate cyber security issues across the country.

A cyber-security maturity study commissioned by the Ministry of communication and conducted by the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) of the University of Oxford in collaboration with the world Bank, has described Ghana’s cyber-security maturity level at a formative stage based on the cyber-Security capacity Maturity Model (CMM) for Nations adopted for the study.

Meanwhile, Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu Ekuful has highlighted the need for more awareness to be created on cyber risks following recent breaches.

She is hopeful it will be considered in the 2019 budget.