The Minister of Communication, Haruna Iddrisu has asked the National Communications Authority (NCA) to include a provision in the licenses of Internet Service Providers (ISP) to force them to check the incidence of cyber crime as Ghana celebrates the World Telecom and Information Society Day.

He has tasked NCA to insist that an undertaking by ISPs to protect child privacy will be included in the license conditions and its observance will be monitored and assessed as the licenses are renewed.

“It is now time to galvanise efforts to fight the use of computers for criminal activities,” he said.

The Minister said this on Friday during the commemoration of the World Telecom and Information Society Day, which was on the theme “protecting children in cyberspace” in Accra.

This comes at a time the incidence of cyber fraud, locally known as ‘Sakawa’ is on the rise prompting fears that school children are at risk of participation.

The Mr. Iddrisu assured that a Computer Emergency Response Team will be set up to establish a national cyber security network that will interact with various institutions such that any computer emergency .reported anywhere can be promptly responded to before any damage is caused.

“It is necessary for the country to prepare itself to more harmful computer threats anticipated with the advance of technology,” he said.

However, the Minister failed to explain how different the Computer Emergency Response Team will be from the Cyber Crime Unit that has long been established at the Ghana Police Service.

Source: B&FT