The Frimpong-Manso Institute (FMI) has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to implement robust cybersecurity measures to avoid violence in upcoming elections.

In a statement issued in Accra, the Institute said the relevance of cybersecurity in elections could not be overstated since modern elections rely heavily on data whether voter registration information, results from polling stations, or communication between election officials.

It said any compromise of these data due to cyber-attacks, manipulation, or exposure could severely disrupt electoral processes, erode public trust, and potentially alter election outcomes.

It said to counter cyber threats to the Ghanaian electoral infrastructure, a multi-layered approach combining preventive, detective, and responsive strategies was critical.

The statement said the Commission must ensure networks were segmented to isolate critical systems like voter databases, tallying systems, and communication networks from non-critical systems. This reduces the blast radius of any potential breach.

It said the EC must implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and enforce the principle of least privilege for all users, ensuring only authorized personnel have access to sensitive systems. Also, end-to-end encryption must be used to encrypt all data in transit and at rest, especially sensitive voter information and election results.

It said the EC must collaborate with international cybersecurity organisations and intelligence agencies to gather real-time threat intelligence on known state-sponsored attackers and other potential adversaries.

The statement said staff must be trained to recognise spear-phishing attempts and implement advanced email filtering to block malicious emails.

“Encourage use of secure email protocols”, the statement added.

It advised the Commission to conduct regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing on voter databases to identify and fix weaknesses. It said the EC must backup systems by maintaining secure, offline backups of voter registration data to allow rapid restoration in case of tampering or ransomware attacks.

“Cybersecurity has become essential in today’s digital age and cyberspace is also to counter cybercrimes and other related activities”, the statement added.