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The Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, and his team engaged members of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications on relevant issues as part of collaborative efforts for successful cybersecurity regulations pursuant to the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038).

According to the Director-General of the CSA, Ghana’s digital infrastructure depends largely on the telecommunications sector and as such there is the need to work together by engaging in regular dialogues and debates. This will help identify common grounds that will ensure a secure and resilient digital ecosystem. He said, “we have one goal; ensuring a safer digital environment, but we have differentiated responsibilities and mandates as individuals and institutions to achieve the goal”.

Dr. Antwi-Boasiako, made these remarks at a Breakfast Meeting on Cybersecurity Engagements with the Telecommunications Industry, in Accra on Friday, December 8, 2022.

Touching on the vision for Ghana’s cybersecurity regulation, he cited Sections 35-40 of Act 1038, which focus on the designation of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII), registration of the owners of CII and the duties of these CII owners. He added that the CSA is committed to working with the telecommunications sector in the implementation of Section 69 of the Act in collecting relevant subscriber information for investigation purposes when required. He further encouraged them to take interest in the establishment of the Industry Forum per section 81 of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020.

Dr. Antwi-Boasiako indicated further that, the licensing and accreditation regime for Cybersecurity Service Providers, Cybersecurity Establishments and Cybersecurity Professionals will be implemented from January 2023. He thus encouraged the participants to embrace the regulations as they are very necessary considering the intrusive nature of cybersecurity activities.

Speaking at the event, The Deputy Director-General (Technical Operations) at the National Communications Authority (NCA), Professor Ing. Ezer Yeboah Boateng, representing the Director-General of NCA, said there were a number of cybersecurity issues affecting the industry with respect to Availability, Confidentiality and Integrity of the operations of the telecommunications sector. He said the forum was therefore apt; an opportunity to highlight challenges facing industry players and to set in motion frameworks to safeguard the telecommunications ecosystem. He said, NCA is committed to continuous engagements with the CSA and the industry players through the

Telecommunications Sector Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for a sustained digital transformation.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey led discussions on issues that affect the telecommunications industry. Following the discussions, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako indicated that the CSA as a designated security sector institution is committed to engaging other relevant stakeholders to solve security issues that affect critical information infrastructure.

The Breakfast Meeting was organised as part of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) 2022, under the theme, “Regulating Cybersecurity: A Public-Private Sector Collaborative Approach”.