Cybercrime will cause a loss of $100 billion to Ghanaian businesses in 2018 if effective countermeasures are not put in place, according to an information security expert.
Del Aden, the managing partner at cybersecurity firm Delta 3 International, told Citi Business News that cybercrime in the North African country have significantly increased and pragmatic measures are needed to be put in place to minimize it.
“Businesses in Ghana stand to lose nearly 100 million dollars to cybercrime. That’s why everyone needs to sit up and implement effective measures of counter cybercrime,” he told the outlet on the sidelines of the 4th edition of the Ghana Cyber Security Workshop.
According to Serianu Limited, a Kenya-based IT firm, Ghana’s economy suffered a loss of $50 million from cyber-crime in 2016.
Mr. Aden said a direct involvement of the government indispensable to counter cybercrime.
He also held increased digitalization responsible for growing cyber-security related risks.
“Unfortunately, organizations in Ghana are not immune to these risks, as such business leaders must take active steps to improve their organization’s readiness for these kinds of threats,” he said.
Ghana’s economy suffered a loss of $50 million from cyber-crime in 2016
Mr. Aden said that financial and public institutions are the most common victims of the cybercriminals.
“Organizations that are normally attacked, like financial and public institutions, normally experience system disruptions and loss of money. Companies then spend a lot of man-hours in trying to recover lost information and also restore affected systems,” he said.
Organized by Delta 3 in collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Communications, the 4th edition of the Ghana Cyber Security Awareness Workshop was held at the African Regent Hotel in country’s capital Accra.
The workshop was aimed at training IT and non-IT people in Ghana to protect themselves and their organizations from security risks and potential cyber-attacks.
The occasion was used to address prevailing issues like Types of Cyber Attacks, Critical Cyber Threats, Cyber Security Fundamentals, Cyber Security Breaches, Data and Information Security, Mobile Protection, Email Security and Social Network Security.
Delta 3 has trained over five hundred employees from various public and private organizations the country since its inception in August 2017.
The company will also hold two more cybersecurity workshops over the next two months.
