Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority says that about 64 per cent of children of school age in Ghana are at risk of sexual exploitation through the internet.

The authority also said that more than 22,000 child sexual exploit­ed materials were generated and shared in Ghana through the in­ternet in a 2022 survey, pointing out the need to mitigate the problem.

Speaking at the National Cyber Security Challenge 2024 for selected schools in the Middle Zone, the Lead Child Online Protector at the authority, Mrs Herrietta Asa­moah, said that the purpose of the challenge initiated in 2022, was to raise awareness for children to help them keep safe on­line, make them credible advocates to spread the gospel across the country.

According to Mrs Asamoah, who spoke on the theme, “‘Empowering Young minds, creating opportunities: promoting a Safe Digital Ghana”,’ said that the authority had expanded their reach from six schools in 2022 to 70 schools and expressed the hope that the next survey could have less number of cases with regard to child ex­ploitative materials that had been produced, shared and distributed through the internet in the country.

A Senior Manager, Regional Sales, Northern Business District of MTN, Mr Simon Amoh, said that one area that demanded special attention was the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“It is a double-edged sword whose unprecedented speed en­hances our defensive capabilities, and can also be used by malicious actors to develop more sophisticat­ed cyber-attacks,” he said.

Noting the importance of em­bracing advanced technologies, he advised that “we must ensure that we use the internet ethically and responsibly.”

The report by the Ghanaian Times on Friday quoted Mr Amoh as saying that cyber security is not just about protect­ing data, but about safeguarding the trust and integrity of the digital society.

It added that five schools competed in the challenge with Serwaa Kese SHS adjudged the champions of the middle zone with 37 points.

GIK/APA