Dr. Nana Kofi Annan of the National Cyber Security Centre under the Ministry of Communication, has called on school children to be wary of predators on the internet and stay safe of any of their scams and schemes.
“I urge you not to do anything nasty including nude pictures which can be used against you in the future….bear in mind that it can affect your future appointment and even serve as a bait for abuse by predators”.
Dr. Annan was speaking with school children as part of awareness creation on “A Safer Ditigal Ghana” at Sekondi College in the Western Region.
He mentioned that risks associated with use of the internet included vulnerability, threats and attacks, saying weak password was one means of being vulnerable in the cyber space and predators were able to lure unsuspecting people into socially unacceptable behaviours.
Dr. Annan said becoming a good digital citizen meant applying the needed etiquettes for safer operations.
In a related development, the e-crime Bureau organised a similar event for the members of the Association of Ghana Industries on cyber attacks on businesses in the country and the need to take steps to mitigate the emerging challenge.
Mr. George Bawuah, Western and Central Chairman of the AGI, noted that every business was at risk of cyber attack, adding that businesses in Ghana were not insulated from such attacks, which posed risks of losing investments.
He said the rate of attacks on daily basis required that organisations and businesses trained their employees on cyber security.
Mr. Bawuah noted that human errors contributed 90 percent of all cyber attacks, adding, it was important to sensitize businesses in cyber security best practices to identify threats and take steps to mitigate them.
Mr. Philip Danquah Debrah of the e-crime bereau said it was important for corporate organisations to be aware of these emerging threats to businesses and take steps to mitigate it.
The bureau provides cyber security and digital forensics services for various industries to stay proactive and protect their IT infrastructure from cyber attacks.