At the launch of the partnership agreement
In the midst of terrorism threats and increasing cybercrime in the country, the government and private companies have been urged to take steps to secure Ghana’s cyberspace.
Cybercrime in Ghana has jumped significantly from 116 in 2016 to 412 in 2017 and further to 558 in 2018 – a source at the Cybercrime Unit of the Ghana Police Service has disclosed.
The crimes have not only increased in numbers but also in sophistication.
Last week, it was reported that an international gang of cyber criminals stole $100 million from 40,000 customers. This is the scale of the cybersecurity challenge facing countries like Ghana.
Aventura Technologies Ghana, local representatives of American security giants Aventura Technologies, has therefore partnered Israeli cybersecurity firm, TripleCyber, to launch the best available cybersecurity tools and technology in Ghana.
The two companies also hope to train young Ghanaians to be exceptionally savvy in the area of technology.
Speaking at the launch of the partnership agreement in Accra, the Chief Executive of Aventura Technologies Ghana, Mr Emmanuel S. Asiedu, said more than just provide the most robust, cost effective cybersecurity solutions, the partnership is designed to create a vast pool of local talent.
The talents would be trained and primed to maintain and build on the technology required to effectively guarantee Ghana’s cybersecurity.
He said the potential of the partnership to create jobs and produce Ghanaian experts in cybersecurity, who would be exported to other African countries, is enormous.
The Council Chair of Ghana Telecom University, who is also a board member of Aventura, Prof. K.O. Boateng, said the training being proposed by Aventura and TripleCyber would be impossible unless the country embraces Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
He said government’s aggressive digitisation drive only emphasised the need for a corresponding robust technology to fight cybercrime.
His views chimed perfectly with those expressed in December last year by Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful. She said “our digitisation efforts and the introduction of a number of e-services in Ghana have exposed the country and people to possible cyber attacks and vulnerabilities.”
The Chief Executive of TripleCyber, Nadav Tavor, said criminals are wreaking havoc on many organisations because many are not paying attention to cyber risks. According to him, the risks posed by cyber attackers are far more dangerous than what people think.
He said with experience in providing cybersecurity solutions to telecom companies, service providers, financial and utility companies, TripleCyber had carved a niche for itself in this area.
A lecturer at the Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC), Dr Kester Quist-Aphetsi, said Ghana had to learn from the experience of Israel which took cybersecurity education seriously and has thus become a superpower in the field.
He said the fact that Ghana ranks high in cyber fraud should justify consistent investment in training on cybersecurity “so that we can track the cyber criminals.”
Dr Quist-Aphetsi said the partnership and training model being unveiled would help produce persons who can maintain, adapt and manage new technologies in cyberspace.
The Chief Executive of TripleCyber said beyond the monetary losses, a more sinister effect of cybercrime is that it can paralyse a whole nation and its critical infrastructure.