It was organised in partnership with the Shadowserver Foundation and the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) to enhance understanding of the evolving cybersecurity landscape affecting higher education institutions.

Opening the workshop, the acting Deputy Director-General of the CSA in charge of regulatory operations, Dr. Jamal Seidu Tozua, speaking on behalf of the Director General, Mr. Divine Selase Agbeti, highlighted the growing cybersecurity risks facing educational institutions and emphasised the need for strong cyber hygiene practices across universities.

He urged Vice-Chancellors to strengthen the technical capacity of their IT departments and enhance collaboration with the National Computer Emergency Response Team of Ghana (CERT-GH) to reduce institutional exposure to cyber risks.

He urged tertiary institutions to support efforts towards establishing an Education Sector Computer Response Team (CERT) to facilitate coordinated threat detection, response, and information sharing within the sector stressing the need for institutions to engage only licensed and accredited cybersecurity providers when procuring cybersecurity services.

“As institutions that may engage cybersecurity service providers, establishments and professionals from time to time, it is important that you deal only with licensed and accredited institutions and professionals,” Dr. Tonzua added.

He averred that the CSA was collaborating with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to embed cybersecurity as a key pillar in Ghana’s higher education system.

“We have engaged the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission on several initiatives, including the development of a National Cybersecurity Competency and Qualification Framework that will establish a structured learning pathway from foundational cyber literacy to advanced professional certification,” he said.

The Director of Corporate Affairs at the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Mr. Jerry Sarfo, speaking on behalf of the Director-General, noted that the tertiary education sector had become an attractive target for cybercriminals due to the vast amounts of sensitive personal, financial, and intellectual property data managed by universities. He urged tertiary institutions to consciously embed a culture of cyber resilience on their campuses.

The training sessions were facilitated by officers from the CSA, the Shadowserver Foundation, and FIRST.

Participants were taken through emerging cyber threats affecting educational institutions, including online fraud, impersonation, phishing, unauthorised access, and the exposure of institutional data on the dark web. Key vulnerabilities identified by the CSA within the education sector were also shared.

The workshop also featured a tabletop simulation exercise where university leadership teams responded to a ransomware attack scenario designed to test leadership coordination, crisis decision-making, and incident response readiness.

Chair of Vice-Chancellors’ Ghana, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah, commended the CSA for the engagement and called for sustained collaboration between the Authority and tertiary institutions.