In the light of numerous data fraud and hacking incidents, institutions – especially universities – are being urged to take an interest to invest in cybersecurity and build capacity to protect their systems.
According to the president of Laweh University College, Professor Goski Alabi, cybercrime continues to be one of the challenges facing academic institutions, and as such requires an intentional and concerted approach to address it.
She explained that many universities, when it comes to academic integrity, tend to concentrate on sextortion. However, another issue that is silently eating up institutions is the case whereby individuals manipulate data through cybercrime.
“Academic integrity and academic fraud are not only limited to Africa or Ghana – it is a global phenomenon; and what we are saying more and more has to do with concerns over sextortion, which is sex for grades.
“But one of the biggest challenges academic institutions are facing globally has to do with cybercrimes, and I think it is important that we recognise this because it affects academic integrity. So there is a need to have more concerted and comprehensive approaches to addressing it,” she told the media.
She added that given the existence of open universities like her institution, where learning online is mostly allowed, it has become vital to train staff against fraud.
“We advocate that there should be continuous professional development as a requirement for every institution to train their Information Technology personnel as well as cybersecurity offices. Specifically, it has to do with data governance and information management systems that are in place and how the critical control points are managed within systems,” she indicated.
Cyberattacks
The World Economic Forum’s global cybersecurity outlook report indicates that cyberattacks increased 125 percent globally in 2021, with evidence suggesting an upward rise in 2022.
Acting Principal Consultant at e-Crime Bureau, a leading cyber security, digital forensics and intelligence firm, Philip Debrah Danquah, reiterated that the country has made significant strides with its growth in cybersecurity and data protection by establishing the Data Protection Commission and the Cyber Security Authority.
He added that this is evident in the country’s cybersecurity development, which was ranked third in Africa by the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2021.
He however said reports and industry analyses have shown that despite the gains made, cyberattacks, fraud, phishing, data breaches and sophisticated hacks demand skills able to detect, respond and prevent these gaps to improve the business posture of institutions.
