Cybersecurity has become topical not just locally but globally
Mr Samuel Boateng, a Cybersecurity Expert, has called on stakeholders to have confidence in local experts and give them the chance to demonstrate their knowledge and competencies.
“I have realised that because of the level of education and systems that we have here, there is little confidence in indigenous cybersecurity experts,” he said.
Mr Boateng, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Slamm Technologies, told the Ghana News Agency that most domestic firms would rather outsource to persons outside the country, especially in Asia.
Mr Boateng made the remarks to end the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Accra.
The National Cybersecurity month is an annual initiative specifically dedicated to educating people on internet safety.
He said the experts in the industry were trying to break through the barriers to gain the confidence of businesses to fully accept that there were Ghanaian companies, which could provide the same services.
He encouraged institutions, especially the government, to engage experts in the country rather than hiring people from outside, especially when it concerns issues of national security.
“We should not be outsourcing, our data should be right here, data should be protected and it should be Ghanaians doing that,” he added.
The expert said, “We must also get the word out there that now we have competent people, capable of matching and beating the best.”
He urged stakeholders to be patient and expressed the hope that when indigenous firms were given the opportunity, they could deliver.
The expert called on the authorities to introduce Cybersecurity into the educational curriculum to enable the students to learn from the early stages.
He said in some places, it was taught from the age of eight or younger and by the time they were about 12 years, they would have understood almost all the concepts.
“Cyber awareness must be taught from an early age until you die,” he added.
He said the authorities needed to ensure that a lot of the teaching and learning was not merely theoretical but practical.
Mr Boateng called on parents to first protect their phones even before handing them over to their children and provide education on what to view and what to avoid.