OLA Girls SHS wins National Cybersecurity Challenge
The OLA Girls Senior High School (SHS) at Ho in the Volta Region has emerged victorious in the 2023 National Cybersecurity Challenge.
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This was after it defeated Prempeh College, Wesley Girls High School (Wey Gey Hey) and the Navrongo SHS (NAVASCO).
At the end of the contest, OLA Girls SHS had 45 points while Prempeh College and Wey Gey Hey jointly took the second position with 38 points each, with NAVASCO placing third with 34 points.
Prizes
For its prize, OLA Girls SHS took home a GH¢7,000 cash prize, a trophy and a certificate of participation.
Prempeh College and Wey Gey Hey had GH¢ 2,000 each and certificates.
The Navrongo SHS received GH¢1000 and a certificate of participation.
The competition was held at the Cedi Conference Centre at the University of Ghana, Legon.
In all, 50 SHSs selected from across the country participated in the competition which was launched in Accra on April 26, 2023 by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA).
The participating schools were categorised into four zones.
They are the Northern, Middle, Eastern and Southern zones.
Preparations for the competition kicked off in June with participants focusing on Child Online Protection provisions within the Cybersecurity Act (Act 1038) of 2020, digital footprint management, social engineering and open-source intelligence, among others.
The winners of each of the zones qualified for the final which took place at the University of Ghana.
The presentation of the awards was however held at the Kempinski Hotel during the closing ceremony of the maiden Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building.
The other awards presented at the conference included the Outstanding Female Student Award won by Angela Boateng and Best Social Media Award, won by NAVASCO.
In her address, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said the government would not relent in its efforts to fight cybercrime to ensure a secure and resilient digital ecosystem by effectively regulating cybersecurity and promoting its development in the country.
She said the ongoing journey towards a more secure cyberspace, underscored the importance of collaboration and emphasised that working together was crucial for navigating the ever-changing landscape effectively.
“As we further digest the conference's main themes, we must keep in mind that cybersecurity is both a technical and societal concern,” she said.
Active users
Before the contest, the Director-General of the CSA, Dr Albert Boasiako-Antwi, said children were some of the most active users of the Internet.
He said although the increasing access to the Internet had presented unparalleled opportunities for children and young people to communicate, connect, learn, and access information from various parts of the world, those opportunities came with new security challenges.
"Last year, the CSA undertook a survey in selected SHSs in the Greater Accra Region, interviewing 3,622 students.
The survey revealed that out of the 3,622 students, 2,331 of these students had encountered sexual content while online, 2,025 students had physically met persons they had contact with online, 1,418 students had experienced romance scam involving money, 866 students had experienced romance scam involving sex, 830 students had posted sexual contents and 769 had encountered bullying, all online," he said.
As alarming as the figures were, Dr Boasiako-Antwi said it was clear that the Internet space posed serious threats to children.
Law enforcement
"As law enforcers, parents, guardians and teachers, it is our collective responsibility to protect and secure children from all forms of abuse including those online.
The CSA is committed to protecting the interests of children online in line with its mandate to regulate and promote the development of cybersecurity in the country," he emphasised.
In collaboration with relevant stakeholders, he said the CSA had developed a National Child Online Protection Framework aimed at tackling the incidents of child online sexual exploitation and abuse including child sexual abuse material, online harassment, and cyberbullying against children, as well as preventing inappropriate collection and possession of children’s data by service providers.
