Students sensitised to cyber security threats

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications is equipping students of Accra Girls Senior High School with the necessary knowledge and skills to recognise and defend themselves against cyber threats.

Dubbed: “Promoting a culture of digital safety: A perspective of the SHS students”, the month-long event seeks to intensify the capacity building and awareness creation efforts on cyber security, cybercrime, and to educate citizens on the importance of good cyber hygiene and cyber best practices.

It also aimed at providing cybersecurity tips to learners in second cycle institutions, and to equip them with basic cyber security fundamentals to help them to stay safe in the cyber space.

In a lively atmosphere, students were educated on how individuals needed to embrace the subject and ensure their safety on the Internet.

The girls were also trained in risk associated with the use of Internet, including fake news, cyber bullying, sextortion, cyber stalking, issues of social engineering, among others.

Cybersecurity practices 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, advised young pupils to be wary and assimilate cybersecurity practices into their everyday lives while online.

He said with the increased reliance on technology, it was imperative to teach young pupils the skills that would make them protect themselves and use the tools very well.

That, he said, would ensure that the country bridged the digital gap, adding that, “we teach them to protect themselves and not to become cyber criminals but also be aware of some laws that criminalises some of these cybercrimes”.

On the Cyber Security Point of Contact, he sensitised the students to the need to report all cyber-related issues confronting them to the Fraud Control dashboard for prompt response and necessary assistance.

Dr Ashigbey said the chamber was working with the police and the cybercrime unit to ensure the rights things were done as permitted by law.

He stressed the need for young pupils to enrich their knowledge of cybersecurity to ensure their personal information were safe from attacks by bad actors.

Dr Ashigbey said the chamber would incorporate cybersecurity system to guarantee and ensure integrity, resilience and robustness. 

Presentation

A representative of Mobile Telecommunications, AT, Francis Ntiamoah, shared a brief presentation with the students on how to manage their social media presence.

He entreated young pupils to only create accounts with trusted sites and desist from using weak passwords and same passwords for multiple accounts.

He also advised students to limit accessing sensitive portals with public Wi-Fi.

Digital landscape

At the programme, the Assistant Head of Administration, of the Gladys Kuetuadu, said today’s digital landscape was rife with all manner of threats such as malware, phishing attacks, data breaches and ransomware.

She said the training would equip the students with the necessary knowledge and skills to recognise and defend against those threats.

“It is an opportunity to be educated by the telcos themselves, for them to share insights on cybersecurity with the students here, so it is important to allow yourself to be educated and learn,” she said.