Lack of successful investigations and prosecution leading to cyber crimes – NCSC

Head of the National Cyber Security Centre, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, has urged government to prioritize implementing measures that allow for the criminal justice sector to investigate and prosecute cyber criminals.

According to him, the lack of successful investigations and prosecutions of cyber crime related cases has since led to an influx of cyber criminals in the country.

Speaking at a forum on Cyber Crime and Electronic Evidence for Criminal Justice officials, Dr Antwi-Boasiako explained, “The reason why investigations by the criminal justice sector have been a daunting challenge is because developing a case against a cybercriminal does not assume the form of traditional crimes which occur outside the cyberspace”

“This requires the gathering of electronic and evidence which is very delicate and could disappear with time because authorities responsible for handling such cases usually face an uphill task when drawing conclusions due to jurisdictional and cross-border related challenges,” Dr Antwi-Boasiako explained.

“Additionally, the lack of relevant and up-to-date legislations to address issues of digital forensics and electronic evidence, knowledge and relevant experience by investigating, prosecuting, and judicial authorities also pose a challenge as well as lack of domestic and international cooperation arrangements to deal with existing and emerging cybercrime trends,” he added.

Dr Antwi-Boasiako noted government through the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of the Ministry of Communications 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 the training of investigators, prosecutors and judges on cybercrime and electronic evidence and the facilitators of this course have been accredited by the Council of Europe as qualified Trainers who are now leading the capacity building efforts across the country,” he stated.

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

Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, on her part, has disclosed that a draft bill intended to revise Ghana's National Cyber Security Policy will go before Parliament for consideration before the end of 2020.

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