Stronger public education needed on rising cyber threats – Cybersecurity advocate

Cybersecurity advocate Wonder Yaa Anane has called for intensified sensitisation and education of business owners and the public on cyber threats and their potential impact on businesses.

Madam Anane argued that the authorities responsible for protecting businesses and individuals from cyber-attacks are not doing enough to educate the masses on emerging threats. She made these remarks on ZED 101.7 FM.

“Businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are much more prone to cyber-attacks because of their size. Cybersecurity is a business issue because once a company is attacked, it affects the whole business,” she said.

Madam Anane explained that: “A breach can lead to financial losses, downtime, angry customers, lawsuits and even a damaged reputation.

“Cybercrime has no borders and businesses are also at risk of being attacked.”

On the issue of education, Madam Anane appealed to authorities to design educational activities tailored to each demographic to ensure effective communication of cybersecurity threats.

“One of the issues we face as a country is Mobile Money fraud, what we all call MoMo. It is high time the Cybersecurity Authority and telcos design educational messages to inform our older generation on how to avoid these problems.

“Most of our uneducated citizens are quick to give out their PINs and passwords to fraudsters who call them. It is imperative to let them know that some of these people are criminals,” she stressed.
According to the World Economic Forum, cybercrime could cost the global economy an estimated USD23 trillion by 2027.

Cybersecurity threats to businesses are diverse and rapidly evolving, with attacks often targeting the weakest links such as employees, third-party vendors and misconfigured systems.

A single successful attack can be financially devastating, damage a company’s reputation and disrupt operations for an extended period.