The Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has charged African leaders to collaborate in the area of information sharing to fight cyber crimes and online terrorism in the continent.
According to her, online terrorism and cyber crimes are major concerns for every country in Africa and Ghana is no exception so there is a need for nations and groups to team up in information sharing, response and coordination to counter such acts.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful made these statements at the ongoing Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFECT), Tech Against Terrorism (TCT) and Multi-Sector Workshop held in Accra, asked African leaders to commit more to the fight against online terrorism and violent extremism.
She said countries are now at war with hackers online where critical data is being stolen and many institutions are now facing ransomware attacks daily which would require a multi-sectoral approach to fight it.
According to her, the Global Risk Report of 2020 at the World Economic Forum places cyberattacks on critical infrastructure among the top five risks in the world which need to be addressed.
“I believe that in your quest to accelerate and strengthen knowledge-sharing and best practices among tech companies, law enforcement and others, the issue of online terrorism and violent extremism will get the needed attention and more efforts will be channelled into securing the internet,” the minister stated.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said Ghana has over the past five years made strides in cybersecurity with the passage of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) with specific provisions for the protection of critical information infrastructures.
She added that prior to the passage of Act 1038, the government had put in place several initiatives including the ratification of the Convention on Cybercrimes, also known as the Budapest Convention, and the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection, also known as the Malabo Convention, to aid in international collaboration efforts in the fight against cybercrime.
The GIFCT’s initiative is in line with the vision of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation aims of securing the digital ecosystem of the country.
“I urge you to commit to your mission by extending your work to other countries and regions across Africa in your efforts to empower and provide technical guidance and support to nations and build capacity on countering cyber-based terrorism.”
At his opening address, the Acting Director General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) Dr Albert Antwi-Bosiako said the workshop is a joint initiative between the authority, GIFCT and TaT to deliberate on how to regulate the sector.
Dr Antwi-Bosiako said GIFCT was significantly necessitated by the need for dialogue towards understanding among tech firms, government and the civil society at large on how to counter the use of the digital platform for violent extremism and terrorism.
He said CSA’s engagement with GIFCT is what has led to a workshop in Accra and is part of its international cooperation mandate to strengthen partnership and collaboration to achieve a secure and resilient digital Ghana.