News

The Presbyterian Boys Senior High School (PRESEC), Legon, has emerged winners in the maiden National Cybersecurity Challenge organised by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), in Accra, on October 17, 2022, as part of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) 2022.

PRESEC obtained 64 points ahead of competing schools Mfantsiman Girls SHS, who came second with 59 points, Adisadel College - 57.5 points, St. Monica’s Girls SHS - 54 points, Oda SHS - 50 points, and Northern School of Business - 42 points.

The quiz competition was facilitated by the CSA, with support from UNICEF and other partners, as part of efforts to build a cybersecurity culture among students and to sensitize them on cybercrime trends and cybersecurity issues in the country.

Addressing the participants, the Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitalisation (MOCD), Hon. Ms. Ama Pomaa Boateng said, awareness creation was the most effective medium to address cybercrime issues worldwide and that is why government has institutionalised the National Cyber Security Awareness Month to be celebrated in October every year.

She added that the protection of children was at the forefront of government’s national cybersecurity efforts because they are susceptible to threats such as cyberbullying, exposure to indecent images and videos, cyberstalking, phishing attacks and sextortion.

She indicated that, as part of the government’s commitment to the protection of children on the internet, ‘we have achieved some successes, especially in raising awareness of the online risks associated with contact with our children on the internet, the conduct of children and young people on the internet, which could harm other children as well as the contents which children access on the internet’. She called for collaboration from all stakeholders in the development of cybersecurity among the populace, especially among children adding that “we must be deliberate about working together in the interest of our children”.

Welcoming the participants, the Ag. Director-General of the CSA, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako, in a speech read on his behalf by Ms. Afua Brown Eyeson, Lead for Child Online Protection (COP), said, it was the collective responsibility of law enforcers, parents, guardians, and teachers to protect children and secure them from all forms of abuse, including those online.

He noted that the increasing access to the internet presented unappareled opportunities for children and young people to communicate, connect, learn and access information from various parts of the world, however, it came with new security challenges. He gave assurance of CSA’s commitment to protecting the interests of children online in line with its mandate to regulate and promote the development of cybersecurity in the country.