The Bank of Ghana has observed there is a growing threat of Cyber-attacks on the financial system in the country, which it is taking steps to combat.

Addressing the launch of the Cyber Security Directives for Financial Institutions on Monday October 23, the first deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, noted the risk associated with cybercrime on financial systems globally is on the rise, citing Bangladesh and Malaysia as examples.

He observed Ghana is no exception, pointing to a 2016 report which indicates millions of cyber-attacks were recorded that year in the financial sector.

“Indeed, cyber-attacks have the potential to pose systemic risk by disrupting business operations within the financial sector. For Ghana, the threat is growing. A recent study in 2016 disclosed that there were more than 400,000 Malware incidents, 44 million Spam incidents, and 280,000 Bot incidents within Ghana’s financial industry”, he said.

He explained the Bank, through its monitoring systems, has observed on daily basis attempts by cyber criminals to bypass security controls and exploit vulnerabilities within the cyber and information security defenses of financial systems.

He however said the BoG is among other things putting measures in place to ensure that the financial space is protected against these attacks.

“As the Bank of Ghana pursues this objective, alongside strengthening the regulatory and supervisory environment to restore confidence and promote stability and integrity of the banking sector, it is important that we also take concrete steps towards implementing cybersecurity measures to combat financial crime”

The theme for the launch of the Cyber Security Directives was “A Safer Digital Financial Industry”, and Opoku-Afari was convinced the theme “will shape the strategic direction in terms of cyber security of the banking industry and to the larger extent, the entire financial sector”.

He said in the face of technology, financial services remain critical and the Bank of Ghana has established, as a major policy priority, the development of a sound financial system with strong individual component institutions.

Dr. Opoku-Afari further noted the Bank of Ghana has developed the Cyber Security Directive for Financial Institutions because it deems it necessary to take steps to counter the threats to ensure the integrity and operational security of the financial system.