In order to safeguard their information technology (IT) systems from cyberattacks, institutions are being advised by Professor Goski Alabi, Consulting President of Laweh University College, to invest in cyber security.
She said that higher education institutions were always the target of cyberattacks, necessitating the implementation of a strong defense mechanism.
This was mentioned by Prof. Alabi at the start of a three-day training program in Accra on data protection and cyber security.
42 people from colleges, businesses, and government agencies are participating in the workshop, which is being hosted by Laweh University College.
It aims to increase participants’ skills in managing cyber security and preventing data hacking.
Prof. Alabi said that academic dishonesty and fraud issues were a universal concern that did not just affect Africa or Ghana.
“And what we are saying more and more has to do with worries over sextortion; that is sex for grades,” she added. “But for some of us one of the major difficulties that academic institutions are experiencing around the globe has to do with cyber security.”
And I believe it is crucial that we acknowledge this because it has an impact on academic integrity, raises questions about academic fraud, and introduces a lot of hazards and unreliability into the system.
According to Prof. Alabi, the institutions must take a coordinated and all-encompassing strategy to resolving it.
She said that every institution should compel its IT and cyber security personnel to complete ongoing professional development in the field.
“I am aware that we focus on information security a lot, but it’s time we started putting more effort into developing capability for cyber security and cyber intelligence,” the speaker said.
She advised colleges to strengthen their information security measures to protect against academic fraud and online threats.
Prof. Alabi stated that Franklin University and the University had been working together to increase the staff’s capacity to safeguard their systems because both institutions had seen their fair share of assaults.
She made an appeal to the Ministry of Education and the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training to make sure that the Recognition Prior Learning Policy is implemented in order to validate competence acquired outside of the formal education and training systems for certification purposes.
The event’s chairman, Mr. Philip Debrah Danquah, the acting principal consultant for the e-Crime Bureau, noted that reports and industry analyses had revealed that despite the advances made, cyberattacks, fraud, phishing, data breaches, and sophisticated hacks had led to a demand for skills to identify, respond to, and prevent those breaches to improve the business posture of institutions.