Ghana loses an estimated $54million to cyber crime says 2017 Serianu report

In a recent study conducted by the IT services firm Serianu, it has come to light that Ghana lost $54 million to cyber crime last year, 2017.

While the threat keeps growing exponentially, Ghana and many other African countries continue to fall victim to the malpractice, with weak security architectures, scarcity of skilled cyber security personnel (the country only has an estimated 500 certified professionals, with certifications limited to CISSP, CEH, CISA, CISM, GIAC, SANS, ISO 270001, PCI DSS OA and other relevant courses), and the lack of or non enforcement of strict regulations accounting for the increased vulnerability.

According to the report, 95% of organizations in both the private and public sectors are either operating on or below what it describes as the “Security Poverty Line”, with most of these organizations concerned spending a maximum of $1,500 annually on cyber security services and technologies.

Nigeria is the hardest hit, with the West African nation losing $649 million, followed by Kenya ($210 million), Tanzania ($99 million), and Uganda at $67 million with businesses, individuals, families, financial institutions, and government agencies continually being exposed by cyber attacks.

While cyber criminals keep getting sophisticated with their attack methods, the skill gap between them and the cyber security experts keeps widening. Organizations tend to employ people with traditional technology qualifications such as IT, and Computer Science degrees.

However, the problem at hand requires Cyber Risk Engineers, Technology Analysts, Risk experts, etc, and that is what is lacking in too many organizations and agencies on the African continent.

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