Brand Remarks by the Managing Director of CalBank PLC, Mr. Philip Owiredu on Impact of COVID-19 on Ghana’s Digitalization Agenda
The Deputy Minister of Communication, Hon. George Andah, National Cyber Security Advisor, Mr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, all protocol observed. Thank you for inviting CalBank to share our thoughts at the 2020 National Cyber Security Awareness Month under the theme Cybersecurity in the Era of Covid-19 . COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on global economies and Ghana has not been spared. I believe we have all experienced its effects one way or the other.
The world has experienced incredible changes over the course of a few short months. Businesses, governments and consumers have all been under immense pressure to ‘keep things going’ while operating in a world in upheaval and change. Nations, businesses and consumers worldwide have responded to the outbreak by adapting to various measures including the mobilization of resources to sustain the infrastructure, systems and digital services; and created new and innovative digital solutions in addition to enhancing the consumption and use of technology.
The effects of the pandemic have put severe pressure on banking customers across various segments such as retail, commercial and corporate. There is also increased reliance on digital channels with constant pressure on technology infrastructure and resources.
Financial institutions are rapidly deploying remote systems and networks to support staff working from home whilst criminals are also taking advantage of increased security vulnerabilities to steal data, generate profits and cause disruption. Cybercriminals are developing and boosting their attacks at an alarming pace, exploiting the fear and uncertainty caused by the unstable social and economic situation created by COVID-19. These modern attacks have been automated and are quite difficult to detect. Unfortunately, there is no single method that can successfully protect against every single type of attack. Internal threat activity has also gained prominence in the COVID-19 era as far as cyber-attacks are concerned.
The world is seeing an upsurge in cyber-attacks; therefore, the industry must invest more to educate users of digital services, conduct proper security assessments of their systems and adopt a layered approach to cyber defense to provide a wholistic protection.
The future, however, is bright if we can adhere to initiatives that have been provided by government, regulatory bodies and standard authorities.
The Business Sector is grateful for the initiative of Government in laying the building blocks to protect Ghana’s cyber space. This […]
