The fight against cyber crime requires high technological-savviness and multiple dimensions, the Director of the Cyber Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Police Service, Chief Superintendent of Police Dr Herbert Gustave Yankson, has said.
He explained that cyber crime was multi-faceted and sophisticated and, therefore, required a collective responsibility to deal with.
Dr Yankson, who was speaking in an interview on how to address cyber crime in the country, said there was the need for all hands to be on deck to deal with the trend.
“We all have a role to play. It is not all about the police, but it is about all service providers, the academia, journalists and policymakers,” he said.
Academia
He challenged tertiary institutions offering computer science to include computer security-related courses.
“The universities have their role to play. They should not only take computer science but must include computer security- related courses.
“Everybody must get on board. Issues on laws, making sure that we have standards and policies to address any issue arising from cyber security must be put in place,” Dr Yankson stressed.
Cyber security policy
He, however, expressed happiness that the policy on cyber security was ready though it needed to be finalised to make it a law.
Dr Yankson added that “as a country, we must define our minimum standard for security.”
“Our IT people know how to get all the Apps, but care little about security,” he said.
The director further warned that if proper structures were not in place, people would begin hacking into systems of financial institutions to steal, and that “this could spell doom for individuals, institutions and the country.”
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