Ghana Beefs Up Cyber Defence

The Ministry of Communications has developed, through stakeholder consultation, the national cyber-security strategy, aimed at building confidence and security in the use of ICTs in line with the requirements of World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

This has also been followed with a cooperation arrangement with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to assist the Government of Ghana to establish and further develop its cybersecurity capabilities, including the establishment of Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) to be completed by the end of the year to serve as a trusted and central coordination point of contact for cybersecurity; aimed at identifying, defending, responding to and managing cyber threats.

The Minister for Communications Dr Edward Omane Boamah made these known during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Ghana and the Commonwealth Cybersecurity Initiative (CCI) for a support to undertake specified cybersecurity programmes.

According to him the measures were being taken to counter an anticipated cyber threat in an information offered by the ITU which projected an increase in cyber-crime in online banking using banking-related applications led by malicious people posing as token generators.

He said he had a hint that so far £190,000, have been secured with the help of the Commonwealth Secretariat but stated that the amount is clearly insignificant considering the enormity of the task.

“As more people use mobile devices for banking and authentication, cyber criminals are intercepting authentication numbers with the aid of mobile malware like PERKEL and ZITMO,” he posited.

He said the information indicated also that cybercriminals will increasingly use targeted-attack type methodologies in 2014 making open source research and highly customized spear phishing the norm adding that cybercriminals will not just rely on weak spots in software and systems but will continue to go after humans who are regarded as the weakest link.

“We are also cautioned that data still remains a top prize for both cybercriminals and threat actors. The recent Adobe breach compromised an estimated 150 million accounts and triggered a domino effect necessitating calls for update of log-in credentials. No organization is safe from data breaches. Someone will always attempt to break into networks.”

The Minister announced that it is anticipated that cybercriminals will go “deeper” underground as the Deep Web provides anonymity through “darknets,” a class of networks that guarantee anonymous and untraceable access, such as The Onion Router (TOR) an act which could lead to public distrust, especially after the exposure of state-sponsored monitoring activities, resulting in a period of desperate efforts to restore privacy citing the disclosures by the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, Edward Snowden which highlighted the perplexing position of privacy within the digital age.

He said as a buck up, a blue print of the Ghana Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) has been developed with the technical assistance from the Republic of Korea which will ensure a much more secure electronic communication if implemented and it is estimated to cost US$10million.

He indicated that to protect children, the Ministry of Communications in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is undertaking Child Online Protection programme, a major priority of Government, to protect the Ghanaian child from the dangers of cyber space which is inundated with online child abuse, child pornography, hate and suicidal sites and many more.

Dr Omane Boamah stressed that though Ghana has enacted a child protection law - Ghana Child Protection Act 560 – in 1998 to ensure the safety of children from all forms of abuse, it falls short of the online protection of the child which today is a real challenge to the wellbeing of the general Ghanaian society.

“An amendment of the law or related laws to reflect current electronic communication challenges facing children will be considered,” he posited.

He revealed that the Ministry of Communications has been undertaking a ‘Girls in ICT’ programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection during which periods ICT training and capacity building is given to the girls, a scheme that has become popular among the beneficiaries adding that the project will move to the Eastern Region this year.

He expressed the optimism that the partnership between Ghana and the Commonwealth Secretariat will bring in much more support to implement laudable programmes such as the Public Key Infrastructure which seeks to introduce electronic signatures in Ghana.