The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari has challenged financial institutions to continuously examine the state of their security systems and design appropriate mechanisms to counter possible cyber threats.
The financial sector, according to the 2020 Banking Industry Fraud report, saw the value of attempted cyber fraud in general rise by over 400 percent from 2019 to 2020.
The reported value of fraud recorded by Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions in Ghana in 2020 was about GH¢1 billion.
Out of that amount, the reported value of attempted cyber and email fraud amounted to over GH¢270 million.
In 2020, cyber/E-mail fraud however recorded a loss value of approximately GH¢1.05 million in 2020 as compared to a loss value of GH¢14.3 million recorded in 2019, representing a 92.6 % decrease in year-on-year terms.
Speaking at the launch of the Cybersecurity Authority and the Critical Information Infrastructure Directive, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari noted that it is important for institutions to regularly implement up-to-date solutions to combat cyber-related threats.
“Regulatory compliance by itself is not cybersecurity. The onus lies on banks to examine the state of their security systems, identify gaps and design appropriate mechanisms to counter possible cyber threats. In addition to these cybersecurity regulations, financial institutions will also be required to implement an integrated approach by adopting enterprise-wide frameworks of cyber risk management in line with business objectives.”
“Today’s world is completely different from a decade ago, as changes in information and communication technology increase exponentially. As a result, it is important for institutions to undertake cybersecurity-related due diligence and assessments, identify proper detective controls, and enforce third party and insider risk programs to protect and safeguard their working environments from cyber-related activities that are not conducive for growth. I believe we will all delve into some of these critical issues that are associated with our drive towards digitization,” he added.
