Ghana’s efforts at tackling cyber-crime laudable – Ursula

Ghana is 3rd in Africa in dealing with cybercrime

Ghana ranks 43rd globally in the fight against cybercrime

Parliament passes Cybersecurity Act 2020

Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said policies government has adopted to improve cyber security in Ghana are laudable.

She said these policies and interventions make Ghana the 3rd best in Africa and 43rd in the world in the fight against cyber-crime.

She was speaking at the inauguration of an 11-member Governing Board for the Cyber Security Authority.

As the Chairperson of the board, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful asked the members to take seriously the implementation of government policies in the cyber security space.

“We can’t sustain our gains in digitization without focusing on cyber-security because cyber-attacks can undermine all our gains in digitization. It could destroy our social and economic well-being and our national security as it is very much a party of the security apparatus of this country and the government in the last five years has taken the development of cybersecurity infrastructure and installation seriously and the establishment of this authority is one of the milestones achieved. We have made significant progress within the last five years and the strides we have made have gain Ghana global recognition.”

Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) was passed by the Parliament of Ghana on November 6, 2020, and assented by President Akufo-Addo into law on December 29, 2020.

The act seeks to protect the critical information infrastructure of the country, regulate cybersecurity activities and provide protection of children on the internet.

The Minister added that “a successful economy is hinged on a secured, safe and resilient national digital ecosystem. Cybersecurity is, therefore, very critical to the economic development of the country and essential to the protection of the rights of individuals within the national digital ecosystem.”

Digitization has taken center stage currently in Ghana as it strifes to leverage the benefits of technology for national development.

This has led to the increased rate of cybersecurity incidents such as ransomware, cyber theft, banking fraud, cyber espionage and other cyber-attacks targeted at critical information infrastructure.