Government must involve stakeholders in the development of cyber security policies, a renowned Computer Scientist, Professor Nii Narku Quaynor, has suggested.
That, he said, would help the government to fashion out good cyber security policies that would spur the growth of the industry and protect the country from cyber attacks.
Speaking at a day’s conference on Cyber Security and Privacy in Ghana, Prof Quaynor advocated the need for a bottom-up multi-stakeholder approach to policy decisions on cyber security.
The programme organised by the Ghana Internet Services Providers Association (GISPA) was on the theme, ‘Governance of Ghana’s cyber space: Our security and privacy.’
He called for better partnership between the government and the private sector in the government’s bid to promote the country’s cyber space.
“Both the government and the private sector have important roles to play in ensuring that we are able to manage the governance of the cyberspace,” the renowned computer scientist said.
Mr Michael Owusu Jnr, a representative of the Data Protection Commission, said hackers were spending all their time to prey on lucrative internet spaces, particularly the banking sector and sensitive government e-business involving the use of the internet to commit all kinds of cybercrimes.
“We have to make sure we are not just clicking on anything because you will not only be exposing yourself but also everyone else around you to be vulnerable to hackers,” he said.
According to him, the Commission was monitoring through constant training of its staff to deal with threats from the cyber space.
“It is important to protect ourselves everywhere on the internet. There should be awareness concerning security and private issues. There should be collaboration between private sector and government for governing the Ghana cyber security space,” he said.
Mr Owusu said security agencies were working with the Commission to bring cyber criminals to book through investigations and cautioned against clicking on just anything on the internet without first ensuring its authenticity.
The President of GISPA, Richard Densu, said the conference sought to create a platform for all stakeholders within the ecosystem, including the private sector, government, civil society and end users to maximise the benefits of the use of the internet.
The advancement in internet technology since its introduction, he said, had impacted the country economically by reducing time and energy in doing business.
He said the objective of the conference was to ensure the provision of reliable internet service to both the public and private sector for national development.
That, Mr Owusu said, could only be achieved if the threats to the use of the internet were minimised.
