The Cyber Security Authority has called on businesses to pay attention to cyber risks which pose a threat to all businesses.

Speaking on Joy Business Social, Isaac Mensah, an officer at the Cyber Security Authority, noted that cyber security just like any form of security begins with the user or individual, and as such businesses and employees should pay attention to social engineering attacks, aimed at swindling businesses.

“The issue is about awareness, if you want to do an online business, you should know the risks involved. Having the business alone or migrating your business online may be cost-effective, but we need to pay attention to the risks which exist on various platforms we list our businesses.”

He further stated that majority of the attacks on small and medium businesses recorded in Ghana are socially engineered attacks rather than hacking.

He went on to say that such attacks prey on the vulnerability of users by swindling them.

“When you look at the trend of attacks, a lot of these attacks is not hacking, it is socially engineered attacks which prey on your intelligence. It is about your level of operation and what you need to know to arm yourself”.

“Once you know the schemes, you will be able to detect an attack and find solutions to it”, he said.

On his part, Henry Cobblah, Project Lead at Skillmine Africa cautioned users to make an effort to understand the various services operating on the internet before signing up.

According to him, just as every home is not safe, no matter the levels of security put in place for protection so is the internet, therefore the users should be vigilant.

“Whenever you are getting into anything on the internet, make sure you understand the platform or service before jumping on. Read about it, ask about before investing or signing up to anything on the internet. Lack of understanding of platforms makes you more vulnerable to scamming”, he stressed.

“Ensuring cyber safety has become very important especially now that a lot of businesses are migrating online and relying on cloud services for business support. Though a lot of attacks we see here in Ghana are mainly social engineered attacks, it becomes imperative for businesses to put measures in place to protect their business from attacks.

The month of October has been marked as the cyber security month by the Ghana Cyber Security Authority. The Authority intends to drive awareness and educate the Ghanaian public on how to stay safe online.