Minister for Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has charged stakeholders of cybersecurity to work with the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) and the private sector to succeed.
Cybersecurity, she said, is multi-sectoral and demands a multi-sectoral approach to tackle issues stressing this is not time for turf wars and working in silos.
According to her, coordinating efforts, collaborating and cooperating among the different stakeholders is critical and will ensure the country’s collective Cybersecurity.
Delivering the opening remarks at the inauguration of a Joint Cybersecurity Committee (JCC) on Thursday, July 14, 2022, the Minister stressed that digitalization efforts cannot be sustained without cybersecurity.
“Cyber-attacks could undermine our gains in digitalisation as well as our social and economic well-being and consequently, impact on our national security.”
“In order to achieve a secure and resilient digital economy, each and every one of us will have to play our part,” she said.
The JCC, she said, has been set up pursuant to section 13 of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) to collaborate with the Authority and the sectors or institutions represented on the committee and beyond, for the implementation of relevant cybersecurity measures.
According to her, the appointment and inauguration of the Committee is an important milestone in Ghana’s Cybersecurity development and stressed through its work critical cybersecurity issues affecting the country could be addressed, including the protection of critical information infrastructure, effective criminal justice response to cybercrimes, awareness creation among public sector officials, public-private sector collaboration and relevant international cooperation to make Ghana a truly cyber secured nation.
She disclosed the National Cyber Security Technical Working Group (TWG) was inaugurated in 2017 prior to passage of the Cybersecurity Act in order to facilitate prompt response to and resolution of incidents that impact the security of digital applications, services and infrastructure as the state increasingly digitise operations across all socio-economic activities.
“It was set up to provide institutional collaboration at the highest level to develop our cybersecurity. Due to the hard work of the TWG, the Cybersecurity Advisor and the National Cyber Security Centre, under the direction of the Ministry of Communications, we made significant progress in cybersecurity development, placing Ghana 3rd on the African continent and 43rd globally in the latest Global Cybersecurity Index of the International Telecommunication Union with a score of 86.69% in 2020.”
“This is as compared to a score of 32.6% in 2017 when we started putting the building blocks for our cybersecurity development in place.”
She averred the Cybersecurity Act set up the Cybersecurity Authority and institutionalised the TWG, and eventually transforming it into the JCC barely a year and a half after the law was passed.
The JCC is established pursuant to section 13 of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) to collaborate with the Cyber Security Authority and the sectors or institutions represented on the Committee for the implementation of relevant cybersecurity measures.
The President appoints the members of the Joint Cybersecurity Committee in consultation with the Authority as provided in Section 13(4) of Act 1038.
The JCC is expected to strengthen cooperation among member institutions, sectors, and the CSA in the development of cybersecurity in the Country; Work with the CSA in the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy; Enhance awareness creation and build cybersecurity capacity in various sectors of Ghana’s socio-economic development and enhance information sharing to aid in incident response and reporting.