Aventura Technologies Ghana, local representatives of the American security giants are teaming up with Israeli firm TripleCyber to build an ultra-modern cybersecurity centre (SOC) in Ghana.
The partnership which was launched in Accra this week is designed to avail to Ghana both technology and skilled personnel in the cybersecurity world.
It has been predicted that the next world wars would be fought in the cyberspace and would be catastrophic for humans than bombs and guns have been.
This week it had to take the combined efforts of many international experts and security agencies to bring charges against a multinational cybercriminal ring which used malware to steal a $100 million from bank customers.
Ghana’s Interior Minister Ambrose Dery last year revealed that about $95 million was lost to cyber fraud between January and August – the amounted projected to hit $120 million by the end of the year, 2018.
Statistics show a sharp rise in cyber crimes in Ghana with sophisticated methods being adopted by criminal gangs.
The Chief Executive of TripleCyber, Nadav Tavor, said beyond the monetary losses, a more sinister effect of cybercrime is that it can paralyse a whole nation and its critical infrastructure.
Critical installations such is power generation and distribution systems, water systems, financial systems can all be targeted by cybercriminals because they run on soft-wares and other operating systems that make them vulnerable. This means they must be properly secured.
TripleCyber and its partners Aventura Technologies, Mr Tavor said, have experience in designing cybersecurity solutions to telecom companies, service providers, financial and utility companies across the world.
He said if an attack occurs in Europe, information is readily available to all its centres for contingency measures to be taken.
The Chief Executive of Aventura Technologies Ghana, Mr Emmanuel S. Asiedu, said the partnership with the Israeli company will achieve great things for Ghana.
Apart from the modern cybersecurity solutions centre, the two companies will be helping train Ghanaians in the cybersecurity industry.
“The overarching objective of this partnership is to create jobs and produce world-class cybersecurity experts capable of managing the ultramodern systems we are building.
“We are determined to help produce Ghanaians who will take charge of our country’s cybersecurity so that we don’t have to rely on foreigners which pose serious risks to us a nation,” Mr Asiedu said.
A Board member of Aventura Technologies Ghana, Prof. K.O. Boateng said the government of Ghana is right in promoting an aggressive digitisation agenda.
Interconnectivity will spur Ghana’s growth, he said but insisted this imposes an obligation on the state to protect its cyberspace.
The country must also take its Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education seriously as that is the only way to produce the needed human resource who can train to become cybersecurity experts.
He stressed that since Ghana finds it prudent to deploy police officers to fight physical crimes, it must produce skilled people in the cybersecurity space.
Prof. Boateng believes the partnership between Aventura and TripleCyber presents great opportunities that must be taken advantage of by the government, companies and educational training institutions.