The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) organised a training workshop in Accra for members of Vice-Chancellors’ Ghana (VCG) aimed at strengthening cybersecurity leadership and resilience across Ghana’s tertiary education sector.
The programme, held in collaboration with the Shadowserver Foundation and the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), focused on deepening participants’ understanding of the growing cybersecurity threats affecting higher education institutions.
Speaking at the opening session on behalf of the Director-General, Divine Selase Agbeti, the Acting Deputy Director-General for Regulatory Operations, Jamal Seidu Tozua, highlighted the increasing cyber risks confronting universities. He stressed the importance of adopting strong cybersecurity practices and improving digital safety measures across institutions.
He encouraged Vice-Chancellors to build the technical capacity of their IT teams and strengthen collaboration with the National Computer Emergency Response Team of Ghana (CERT-GH) to minimise exposure to cyber threats.
Dr. Tozua also called on tertiary institutions to support the creation of an Education Sector Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), which would help coordinate threat detection, response, and information sharing. He further advised institutions to engage only licensed and accredited cybersecurity professionals when sourcing cybersecurity services.
He added that the CSA is working closely with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to integrate cybersecurity into the country’s higher education system. According to him, ongoing discussions include the development of a National Cybersecurity Competency and Qualification Framework to provide a structured pathway from basic cyber literacy to advanced professional certification.
Also speaking at the event, Jerry Sarfo, Director of Corporate Affairs at GTEC, noted that universities have become prime targets for cybercriminals due to the large volumes of sensitive personal, financial, and research data they manage. He urged institutions to intentionally build a strong culture of cybersecurity awareness and resilience.
The training sessions, led by experts from the CSA, Shadowserver Foundation, and FIRST, covered emerging threats such as online fraud, impersonation, phishing, unauthorised access, and data leaks on the dark web. Participants were also introduced to key vulnerabilities identified within the education sector.
As part of the workshop, attendees engaged in a simulation exercise where university leaders responded to a ransomware attack scenario, testing their crisis management, coordination, and incident response capabilities.
Chairman of Vice-Chancellors’ Ghana, Richard Kwasi Amankwah, praised the CSA for organising the workshop and called for continued collaboration between the Authority and tertiary institutions to strengthen cybersecurity across the sector.
