Cybercrime in Africa has moved to sophisticated approaches

Accra, Dec. 1,  - Mr Mike Komla Etchi, Managing Consultant of Delta3 International, an Informational Security Advisory Company, has said cybercrime in Africa has moved from a 419 scam to much more sophisticated approaches.

He said most of the attacker’s still rely on poor security habits of the public to succeed in their operations.

Mr Etchi told the GNA in an interview on the side-lines of the Cyber Security Awareness Workshop in Accra that attackers use various exploits to gain access to a computer or an organisation’s network.

He said social media is a great way to connect with people, share ideas and exchange information but the public needed to be aware of the risk factors.

He said the potential risk of social networking are your personal information may be easily available to others, exposing sensitive company information, losing control of your pictures once they were on the internet and sites may be used to spread malware and malicious applications.

“Social networking is great but consider the impact of posting information, do not post confidential company data or personal sensitive information such as your date or birth or home address,” he said.

He urged companies to get in touch with their Information Technology Company or department once they suspect malware.

On mobile protection, Mr Etchi said the most powerful ways to secure the device was by enabling biometrics.

He urged mobile phone users to only download software from providers they trust, calling on them not to disable the built-in security features and they should avoid sensitive data on their mobile devices.

He said with the growing population and digitisation comes with new risks and vulnerabilities that could undermine progress.

“As the African continent’s economy moves online, citizens and their infrastructure becomes targets for an increasingly professional cadre of cyber criminals,” he added.  

Mr Dele Aden, the Managing Director of Delta3 International, said the workshop was to enable participants to learn how to safely protect themselves and their organisations from security risks and possible cyber-attacks.

He said the awareness on the menace is increasing to ensure that everybody would have an idea about the activities of hackers in the system

He said attempts are been made to educate the public to report if they fall victim to hackers, because in the developed world, it was an offence not to report, when you are hacked.

“Hackers share information and ideas on new tactics outsmarting their victims and it was just appropriate to speak about it so others could also learn from it.

The Managing Director said the focus of next year’s workshop would be expanded activities such as how to recover from an attack by hackers, before, during and after.

He said there were several current attacks and hacks, so the workshop would equip participants with the necessary knowledge on how best to enhance cyber security and protect corporate data within their various organisations.

Mr Aden, therefore, called on business owners and individuals to seek knowledge and engage experts on issues concerning cyber security and empower their staff.

Participants were taken through topics like; Introduction to Data and Information Security, Cyber Security Fundamentals, Cyber Security Breaches, Types of Cyber Attacks, Mobile Protection, Social Network Security, Email Security and Critical Cyber Threats.

GNA