The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has urged boards, chief executives, and senior leaders across Ghana’s financial and digital ecosystems to take greater responsibility for cybersecurity, warning that cyber risks should not be left solely to technology departments.

Director-General of the CSA, Divine Selase Agbeti, said cybersecurity has become a business issue, requiring the attention of senior leadership because cyber incidents can affect an organization's operations, systems, and data.

He made the remarks at the 2026 National Cyber Security Awareness Month, held under the theme “Securing the Digital Finance Ecosystem” at the University of Ghana on October 1.

Mr Agbeti said boards and senior executives must be willing to ask critical questions about their organisations’ preparedness for cyber incidents, including how quickly they could detect and contain an intrusion.

“Cyber security must not remain buried somewhere in the technology departments. Cyber risk is a business risk,” he said.

He said boards must assess whether their organisations have the capacity to identify threats early and respond effectively when attacks occur.

“Boards must ask difficult questions. How quickly can we detect an intrusion? How quickly can we contain it?” he said.

Mr Agbeti also urged organisations to examine their ability to maintain operations in the event of a major systems failure and to understand the level of access granted to third parties.

“If our systems fail tonight, can we continue operating tomorrow morning? Do we know which third parties have access to our critical systems and data?” he asked.

He further stressed the importance of testing incident response plans, saying organisations should not wait for an attack before determining whether their systems and teams are prepared to respond.

“And when the attack eventually comes, have we practiced our response? Or are we simply hoping our technology will save us?” he said.

Mr Agbeti said effective cybersecurity should not be measured only by an organisation’s ability to prevent attacks but also by its capacity to withstand and recover from them.

“Resilience is not the absence of attacks. Resilience is the ability to anticipate them, withstand them, recover from them and emerge stronger,” he said.

He said organisations therefore needed to build systems and processes that would allow them to respond to cyber incidents while maintaining essential operations.

Mr Agbeti also used the occasion to send a strong message to individuals who believe cyberspace provides anonymity for criminal activity.

He said the CSA, working with law enforcement, intelligence, regulatory and international partners, would continue to strengthen Ghana’s capacity to identify, investigate and disrupt cyber-enabled crime.

“I want to use this platform to send a clear message to those who believe cyberspace offers anonymity for criminal activity. The cyber security authority working with our law enforcement, intelligence, regulatory, and international partners, will continue to strengthen Ghana's capability to identify, investigate and disrupt cyber-enabled crime,” he said.

He stressed that the ability of cyber criminals to operate across borders would not shield them from accountability.

Mr Agbeti emphasised the need for stronger cybersecurity awareness and collaboration across Ghana’s financial and digital ecosystems, urging organisations to recognise cyber risk as part of their wider business responsibilities.