BoG ramps up cybersecurity efforts, expands FICSOC to cover entire financial sector

The Bank of Ghana has reaffirmed its committedness to strengthening cybersecurity crossed the country’s fiscal assemblage with the enlargement of the Financial Industry Command Security Operations Centre (FICSOC), an inaugural aimed astatine fortifying institutions against increasing integer threats.

Delivering the invited code astatine a stakeholder engagement forum held astatine the Bank Square, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Zakari Mumuni, underscored the urgency of a agreed beforehand to combat cyber risks, wealth laundering, and violent financing.

"The integer gyration has transformed our fiscal system, opening pathways to innovation, but besides to vulnerability. Cyber risks are dissimilar immoderate different and they are stealthy, adaptive, and borderless. A breach successful 1 portion of our ecosystem could compromise the full network," Dr Mumuni said.

Citing caller statistics, Dr Mumuni revealed that Ghana recorded astir GH¢10 cardinal successful cyber and technology-related fraud successful 2024, a emergence from GH¢8.9 cardinal successful 2023.

Globally, helium noted, fiscal cyberattacks surged by 38% successful 2023 portion wealth laundering flows topped $2 trillion.

As portion of its ongoing efforts, the Bank of Ghana volition revise its Cyber and Information Security Directive (CISD), archetypal issued successful 2018, to relationship for emerging risks specified arsenic artificial intelligence, information privacy, and unreality computing.

“We are not resting connected our occurrence communicative due to the fact that cybersecurity is ne'er static arsenic it evolves, and truthful indispensable we,” Dr Mumuni emphasised.

The FICSOC, launched pursuing the 2018 directive, presently serves arsenic a cardinal monitoring hub, allowing banks and fiscal institutions to observe and respond to threats successful existent time. It has been credited with importantly improving situational consciousness and fostering collaboration among stakeholders.

“Participating institutions tin present show threats successful existent time, stock incidental reports promptly, and coordinate responses with greater velocity and impact. Indeed, erstwhile we enactment together, we are stronger, smarter, and faster,” Dr Mumuni noted.

The Bank of Ghana has besides been officially designated by the Cyber Security Authority arsenic the Sectoral Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) pb for the fiscal industry, a relation that positions it astatine the bosom of nationalist cybersecurity efforts.

“This designation is not conscionable a title, it is simply a work that opens the doorway to cross-sectoral quality sharing and a unified nationalist response,” Dr Mumuni.

To grow FICSOC’s reach, the Bank is present moving with different fiscal regulators, including the National Insurance Commission (NIC), the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to bring each regulated fiscal institutions into the fold.

“Cybersecurity indispensable beryllium democratised and each instauration indispensable beryllium supported with the tools and visibility to support their operations and their customers,” helium stated.

Dr Mumuni concluded with a telephone for continued collaboration, noting that the resilience of Ghana’s fiscal strategy hinges not conscionable connected regularisation oregon technology, but connected unity.

“Let america perpetrate to a safer, much inclusive fiscal ecosystem, 1 wherever nary institution’s resilience stands alone, and nary 1 is near behind,” helium said.

MA

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