Editorial

Cyber security awareness month launched

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is making efforts to ensure that every member of the force understands cyber threats and its impact on mission readiness, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, has said.

According to the CDS, the risks to GAF and personnel information should be clearly understood by all ranks as they used the internet in their daily routine.

Participants

Vice Admiral Amoama said this yesterday when GAF in collaboration with the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) launched the cyber security awareness month which is commemorated from October 1 to 31 each year.

This year’s event is being marked on the theme “Regulating Cybersecurity: A Public-Private Sector Collaborative Approach.”

The month-long event seeks to intensify the capacity building and awareness creation efforts on cybersecurity, cybercrime and educate citizens on the importance of good cyber hygiene and cyber best practices.

“For us in the military, cyberspace has emerged as the fifth domain of warfare alongside traditional domains of land, sea, air and space. It is therefore not surprising that terrorists and violent extremists groups are using the internet as platforms to support their activities,” he said.

According to Vice Admiral Amoama, cybersecurity issues had taken centre stage in global discourses because of its influence on transnational, regional and international security. 

Due to this, he said, the army could not gloss over the continuous discoveries and development in communication and information technology on the individual, organisation and government institutions.

He noted that modern trends in technology were incessantly evolving along with accompanying opportunities and threats, adding that Ghana Armed Forces was no exception.

 For GAF, cybersecurity awareness month, he said would comprise workshops, lectures, demonstrations and training sessions on essentials of the implications of the use of social media by all ranks.

 He also mentioned that course participants in all GAF training schools had been introduced to the concept of cybersecurity, and the security implications on social media adding that the awareness drive would be sustained to ensure best practices in all garrisons.

Giving updates on cyber incidents and its impact on GAF, the Provost Marshall, Col Bawa Zibrim Ayorrogo, said its crime statistics shows that cybercrime was the most reported of other crimes.

 He said the past three months, the army had recorded 28 cases explaining that in July it had eight cases, with August and September recording 10 cases each.

 The cases, he said ranged from recruitment and enlistment where pictures of Service Commanders as well as the CDS were used as part of adverts by scams on various social media platforms.

The Acting Director General of the CSA, Dr Albert Antwi Boasiako, said the Authority was working with the GAF and other members of the Joint Cybersecurity Committee (JCC) to come up with National Cyber Defence Programmes to serve as a blueprint for the development of the national cyber capabilities, to protect and defend Ghana’s interest in the cyberspace.

He said it was critical for the army as an institution in charge of national defence to understand the changing dynamics in the cyberspace, and how it affected national security.

BY JEMIMA ESINAM KUATSINU

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