[Chapter-delegates] PRESS RELEASE: ISOC GHANA LEADS DISCUSSION ON INTERNET SECURITY

[Eric Akumiah]

For Immediate
Release 
 
ISOC
GHANA LEADS DISUCSSIONS ON INTERNET SECURITY 
Accra, Ghana April 23, 2010: “Cyber crime has become extremely pervasive since the
invention of the Internet.   In Ghana,
many people associate the phenomena with Sakawa,
which is Internet fraud or scamming. However,
cyber crime goes beyond Internet fraud, it could also involve thehacking of networks, which could
destroy a nation’s critical infrastructure. The
perpetrators of cyber crime have become very sophisticated, so there is the need
to protect our Internet resources by waging warfare against them,” said Prof
Nii Narku Quaynor. 
  
Prof Quaynor, made these remarks at social night, when he
chaired a social gathering
organised by the Ghana Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) under the theme,Internet Security and the National Effort.  It was attended by about 50 people
from ISOC members, government, civil society, industry and academia. 
 
Reiterating the importance of
protecting our critical infrastructure, Mr. Daniel Asante, coordinator of the
Ghana Computer Emergency Response Team (ghCERT) informed the gathering that ghCERTwas partnering with government
agencies, ghNOG, ISOC Ghana, GhNIC and other organisations to create awareness
on Internet security issues and how some of the incidences can be
prevented.  He however, said that because
of the pervasive nature of the Internet, it was difficult to track down on the
perpetrators and that everyone was obligated to protect the Internet against
anti-social acts.
 
An interesting question that came up
for discussion was how much security was needed to prevent the cyber
crime.  While one school was of the
thought that security was extremely necessary and that policies should be put
in place to curb cyber crime, another was of the opinion that, the more
security, the less friendly the Internet becomes, since the Internet is a
network of networks and used by a large number of people.   
 
Adding on to the debate, Prof.
Quaynor said that technology keeps changing very rapidly and policies very
quickly become obsolete.  Moreover,
policies on Internet usage are done globally with the involvement of
organisations such as, the IETF, ISOC, IGF, ITU, ICANN etc, and these normally
take time before they are implemented.   He said, rather than preventing the occurrences, the role of ghCERT is to respond to problems as and when they occur.  Prof. Quaynor stressed on the importance of
sharing of best practices among IT operators on a regularly, so that they are
abreast of the issues. 
 
Presenting the topic, Mitigating the ‘Sakawa’ Challenge, Mr. Charles Nelson, of Youth Against Cyber Crime,
described himself as ‘a lone ranger’ in the war against Sakawa. He described
the phenomena as endemic and that the future was bleak if the government does
not take measures to nip the crime in the bud.  Of great concern to Mr. Nelson, however is the erroneous perception
among people that young people who use Internet are all engaged in the Sakawa
business.   “There must be a
reorientation of the minds of the youth that
the Internet goes beyond Sakawa.” He said.   “Advocacy is therefore, the key to change the mindset of these young
people.  
 
As the Internet continues to grow,
there is a need for global computer emergency response teams to curb the
incidences of cyber crime.  The Ghana
project is therefore, a laudable initiative. According to Prof Quaynor, there
is the need to create network of government ministries agencies and departments
to come out with a defence strategy. He made this call when Mr.  Godfred Ofori-Som, Chair, Technical
Committee, ISOC, Ghana, Ayittey Bulley, Vodafone, Ghana, Daniel Asante and
Charles Nelson, constituted a panel to discuss the way forward in forging a
strong computer emergency response team.  Mr. Asante, said that currently ghCERT was operating on funds from
benefactors and voluntary contributions and that there was the need to look for
other funding alternatives. Dr. Quaynor called on ghCERT to form strong
ties with the government and tackle the issues from a multi-stakeholder
approach.   Mr. Asante made a call for
volunteers to join in the crusade to make the Internet a safer place.  He said GhCERT was putting a portal in place
where it would disseminate information via listservs. 
He also called for volunteers to team
up with ghCERT to create awareness of the initiative.   Four other
CERTS in Africa can be found in Tunisia, South Africa, Mauritius and Egypt.
 
The evening was climaxed with the launching of the new ISOC
website, which has current Web 2 features, user generation content, with face book
and twitter integrations. The launch was performed by Prof. Quaynor, Board
Chairman of ISOC Ghana.
 
About Internet Society Ghana Chapter
The Internet Society Ghana Chapter (ISOC-Ghana) is a
not-for-profit organization and official Chapter of the Internet Society.  The mission of ISOC –Ghana is to inform the
private and public community of Internet users, on recent developments in
Internet technologies and their impact on today’s global society.
 
 
Contact:
Vera Doku
Communication Chair
ISOC Ghana
[E] : Vera.doku at gmail.com
[M]: +233-244627994


      
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