MTN Ghana has stepped up efforts to strengthen cybersecurity awareness among its workforce to match-up the increasingly sophisticated methods of cybercrime.
The company was therefore equipping its employees with the requisite knowledge and information security practices critical to protecting sensitive corporate and customer information and strengthening the first line of defence against fraud.
Madam Jacqueline Hanson-Kotei, the Senior Manager in charge of Enterprise Information and Security Governance for MTN Ghana, said this during an annual cybersecurity awareness engagement with staff of the Company at Takoradi.
She said the Takoradi training formed part of regional training sessions to deepen employees’ understanding of emerging cyber threats and responsible information handling.
She said the programme was designed to ensure that staff remained abreast of changing tactics employed by criminals, hackers and fraudsters, while enabling them to transfer the knowledge acquired to customers and the wider public.
“Technology is changing, and criminals and hackers, are also changing their ways almost every time so we must be abreast to match-up,” she said.
“Awareness is fundamental to cybersecurity because people who lacked the necessary information could neither adequately protect themselves nor assist others to do so”.
Madam Hanson-Kotei stated that because MTN employees handled company and customer information daily, they had a responsibility to protect such information from being compromised.
The Takoradi engagement brought together a broad section of the company’s regional operational workforce, including field activation agents, territory sales controllers and branch managers among others.
Madam Hanson-Kotei said their involvement was important because many of them interacted directly with customers in their course of duties and could reinforce cybersecurity messages at the point of customer engagement.
The senior manager said while the company continued to invest in systems and processes to protect its network and services, employees and customers also remained an important part of the cybersecurity equation.
“Empowering staff was the first step because a knowledgeable workforce was better positioned to recognise suspicious activities and guide customers appropriately…
Charity begins at home, so we must first empower our staff and ensure that they are aware before they can create awareness among others,” she said.
The Senior Manager explained that the employees would use the knowledge gained from the programme to help customers to respond appropriately to the different forms of fraud they might encounter.
The approach was particularly important because fraudsters often targeted individuals rather than attempting to defeat sophisticated technological systems directly.
She indicated that customers remained a critical line of defence and had a major responsibility in protecting their accounts and personal information.
Mobile Money (MoMo) PIN codes and One-Time Passwords (OTPs) were particularly sensitive information that customers must keep confidential, she added.
She advised that customers should treat their PINs codes as highly private information and should not disclose them to anyone, including people they think they could trust in critical instances.
Madam Hanson-Kotei stated that fraudsters had often succeeded by manipulating customers into voluntarily providing information they did not legitimately possess.
“If fraudsters were powerful enough, they would not call you to trick you into giving them your password or PIN codes,” she said.
She, therefore, urged customers to exercise caution when dealing with unsolicited calls, messages or requests for confidential information, saying “MTN will not call customers to request their PIN codes or ask them to give money to the company through such unsolicited interactions advising its clients to always use the company’s official channels or visit an MTN branch for clarification”.
The company was conscious of the need to take cybersecurity education beyond social media platforms, particularly because some elderly people and other members of the population might not regularly use such platforms.
The company therefore used local languages and face-to-face engagements to explain fraud risks and respond to questions from community members.
Mr Prince Owusu Nyarko, the Senior Manager for South-west Business District said the company’s responsibility was to maintain a reliable network and ensure that its services remained available and secured, while customers were expected to protect confidential information entrusted to them.
“When customers remained vigilant and handled sensitive information responsibly, they help reduce opportunities for fraudsters to exploit weaknesses,” he added.
The Takoradi programme, therefore, formed part of MTN’s continuing effort to build a cybersecurity-conscious workforce capable of identifying emerging threats, protecting sensitive information and helping customers navigate an increasingly digital environment.
Mr Isaac Amoakwo, a participant at the training, described the session as timely to help them to properly answer customers on the field anytime they were confronted with issues on cybersecurity.
