Ghana needs to up its game with its approach to fighting cybercrime as much more coordination with allied agencies is needed.

The advice was given by the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) COP Mrs. Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah at a public lecture at the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU).

She called for close collaboration with private sectors and other local and goring partners that will not only be information sharing but also in the form of training and modern ways to fight cybercrime head-on.

She was speaking on the theme, “Building a Sustainable Cyber Crime-Free Society for Economic Development”.

“Ghana must step up its coordination and engagement with the private sector, foreign partners such as the US Department of State and Justice, US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the British MI6, etc. to build capacities, exchange information which will bolster Ghana’s cyber security capabilities.”

“Deliberate resourcing of Crimefighting bodies such as the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), and Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service, The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) must be done in order to win the war on cyber-criminal activities in the country”.

She noted that individuals involved in cybercrime over the years have advanced with their modus operandi and can only be fought with best-known practices by stakeholder institutions.

“While the perpetrators have evolved and become more sophisticated in the past few years, these crimes traditionally involve credit card fraud and capitalize on the vulnerabilities of internet users. It is advocated that the best way to prevent falling victim to cybercrime is to implement cybersecurity best practices such as creating strong passwords, making sure software is up to date, enabling antivirus, blocking access to known malicious websites, and not clicking on suspicious links”.

COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa, therefore, urged all to collaborate in fighting cybercrime as that’s the only way to succeed.

“Every one of us needs to do our part to make sure that our online lives are kept safe and secure in order to secure the economy and society we live in. Ghanaian society must be made aware of the risks and solutions to enable all to play their part. Providing basic education on cybersecurity helps to prevent an attack before it occurs,” she added.