Financial institutions will soon be required to publish their bank-specific cyber security policies. This directive from the Bank of Ghana, will come into force when parliament passes the Payment Systems and Services Bill.
Cyber-attacks on banks are on the increase, especially in Western countries and many industry players fear that Ghanaian banks and other financial institutions are not adequately protected.
In a speech read on his behalf at the Digital banking and Cyber security summit organized by Standard Chartered Limited, Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, indicated that the financial institutions “would also be required to implement an integrated approach by adopting enterprise-wide frameworks of cyber risk management in line with business objectives”.
According to him, the growth of technology-driven electronic payments, albeit good, is associated with cyber related risks such as insecure card data system and identity theft.
The Governor also touched on the Cyber and Information Security Guidelines which are “to protect consumers and create a safer environment for online and e-payments products”.
CEO of Standard Chartered Ghana, Mansa Nettey raised concerns over the individual approach by financial institutions to cyber threat which she described as becoming “more frequent and sophisticated”. “Unfortunately, regulation of cyber security is not harmonized and it’s not developing as fast. This has led to individual organizations finding their own solutions to cyber threat…as an industry, we need to have one legal standard,” she charged.
The summit also featured a panel discussion on the theme: “Combating Cyber Crime in the digital banking revolution”. The panelists included Vincent Odotei Sowah – Deputy Minister of Communications, Archie Hesse – CEO, GHIPSS, Alex Bram – CEO, Hubtel, Sheikh Jobe – CIO, SCB Ghana & West Africa and Professor Nii Narku Quaynor – Computer Scientist.
They all admitted that there should be an effective collaboration among financial institutions to tackle the issue of cybercrime.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Tawakalitu Braimah
