• The act is a testament of how well Ghana has performed globally in cybersecurity rankings
• Ursula Owusu-Ekuful says this will help the government’s drive for digitalisation
The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has hailed the collective work of stakeholders in the cybersecurity sector that has seen Ghana move from a 32.6 percent in cybersecurity rankings in 2017 to 86.69 today.
She explained that with a conscious effort to put Ghana’s ranking in the space better, her outfit has been working tirelessly in achieving this feat, contributing also to the cybersecurity act in 2020.
“The passage of the act in 2020 is indeed a milestone achievement that has set us on the path to a safer and resilient eco-system; digitally. We all need to familiarize ourselves with that law and that’s why this month has been set aside to conduct education and interactions with all sectors of the economy who are impacted by cybersecurity issues.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the enormous contributions and the relentless efforts of our stakeholders in accomplishing this feat which has gained us international recognition,” she said.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful was speaking at Official Launch of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month 2021, the Launch of the Ghana Cyber Security Authority, and the Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) Directive in Accra when she made these comments.
She added that it also had to take the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s, prioritizing cybersecurity and insisting on the expedited establishment of a legal and regulatory framework for cybersecurity for this to come into force.
She also explained the close correlation between cybersecurity and digitalization being a reason there has been the need to have these initiatives established
“We’ve often said that cybersecurity is the other side of the coin of digitalization. You can’t digitalize and ignore cybersecurity because then you leave yourself exposed to all those threats,” she said.
The minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, explained how consensus-building in parliament saw to the record-time passing of the bill, adding that it gives it a national feel.
“The law was also passed in record time due to the extensive consultation and collaboration which preceded the formal laying of the bill in parliament under the direction of the leadership of both the majority and the minority caucuses in parliament. This law is truly a national one.
“Indeed, all the efforts have not gone unnoticed as our cybersecurity act 2020; Act 1028 is now considered world-class legislation at par with similar legislation in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Rwanda, and other countries with robust cybersecurity legislation and that is what has resulted in our ranking as third in Africa on the ITU Cybersecurity Index, and 43rd globally with a score of 86.69 percent. Incidentally, in 2017, we recorded a score of 32.6 percent and that is when we realized that we needed to step-up our efforts in this regard,” she said.
The National Security Technical Working Group that worked on this comprised of representatives of the Judicial Service, the National Information Technology Agency, the National Communications Authority, the Data Protection Commission, the Bank of Ghana, the financial intelligence sector, the National Intelligence Bureau, the Bureau of National Intelligence, the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, the National Security Council Secretariat, the National Signals Bureau, Defense Intelligence, Ghana Immigration Service.
Also, there was external intelligence from the Ghana Armed Forces, Office of the Attorney General, and the Ministry of Justice, and the Ghana Domain Name Registry, the minister said.
