The Managing Director and CEO of Zenith Bank Henry Oroh has called on stakeholders in the banking sector to prioritize investment into systems and structures that will give them utmost protection from the rising incidence of cyber fraud in the country.
Ghana lost over $220 million dollars to recorded cybercrime cases between 2016 and 2018, according to figures available at the Cybercrime Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
In an interview with Citi Business News on the worrying phenomena of cyber-crime Mr. Oroh said banks need to ensure that as they roll out new digital products they make the needed investment to ensure customers are safe when using such products.
“As we invest in deploying the digital products, it’s the same way we have to invest in protecting our customers and our banks. Last year for example Zenith Bank went through a number of certification processes, all in an effort to provide security to safeguard ourselves and our customers from cyber fraud. We invest a lot more money in providing security for our products than we spend in developing the products.”
Cyber Security in Ghana
In Ghana, cyber-attacks such as phishing, and website defacement, have been encountered by government agencies thus raising the discussions on the need to strengthen national cybersecurity efforts.
The 2016 Global Cyber Security Index, showed that half of the world’s population used the Internet for various purposes, with an estimation that by the year 2020, devices that would be connected to the Internet would hit 12 billion.
Also a cybersecurity maturity study, commissioned by the Ministry of Communications and conducted by the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) of the University of Oxford in collaboration with the World Bank, has described Ghana’s cybersecurity maturity level at a formative stage based on the Cyber Security Capacity Maturity Model for nations adopted for the study.
In that regard, some stakeholders say there is the need to put measures in place to ensure safer cyber hygienic practices to promote a secured digital ecosystem for all users, including children, adults, businesses and governments.
Citibusinessnews/The Finder