CyberGhana launches Cyber Security Club at St Louis SHS

St Louis Senior High School is the first to benefit from CyberGhana’s Club Project intended to equip students with the requisite knowledge in cybersecurity to protect themselves from the ever-growing threats lurking on the internet.

The launch of the Club at St Louis Senior High School (SHS), on Friday, April 9, 2021, in Kumasi forms part of the myriad capacity building efforts by CyberGhana and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation to build a Cybersecurity workforce to protect emerging technologies and data-driven complex systems in the country.

The inauguration of the Cyber Security Club in St Louis SHS is one of the many initiatives, by the Ghana-based, non-profit organization and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, under its flagship ‘NICESTEP CyberLabs.

The National Initiative for Cyber Engineering, Science, and Technology Educational Programme (NICESTEP- CyberLabs) is a project which seeks to build a cybersecurity workforce in Africa.

NICESTEP CyberLabs is one of the Engineering X project the Lloyd’s Register Foundation (UK) and the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK have funded.

The Engineering X” program is a new international collaboration that brings together some of the world’s leading problem-solvers to address the great challenges of our age.

Engineering X seeks to build a global network of expert engineers, academics, and business leaders are working in partnership to share best practice, explore new technologies, educate, and train the next generation of engineers, build capacity, improve safety, and deliver impact.

The Engineering X is building a community of global alliances to tackle the most pressing engineering, safety, and sustainability problems, and developing practical, sustainable, and accessible solutions for the engineering profession worldwide.

Speaking to the gathering that saw heads of educational institutions, companies, and law enforcement agencies attending, the 2020 Ghana Most Beautiful pageant, Matilda Makafui Freeman, the brand ambassador of CyberGhana engaged students on crucial ethics on the internet.

“It is important for you to know that many young girls fall prey to criminals online by engaging in sexting.

”Think, think and think again before you share important information about yourself on the Internet.

Indecent photographs and videos are permanently registered in the cloud even after you delete images from your phone or other devices. That is why you must avoid sharing certain materials on the internet”, Matilda Makafui Freeman explained to the gathering.

The Beauty Queen particularly cautioned students against engaging strangers in personal chats or dating as it has led many into online romance fraud.

Mr. David Davor, Assistant Project Manager of CyberGhana, on his part, urged the students to take cybersecurity training given them at the club seriously, as it can afford them huge job opportunities in the technology space in the future.

“Cybersecurity engineering is a fast-growing area for people interested in developing a career in Information Technology. I, therefore, encourage all to take a keen interest in the activities that will be rolled out during the club session. Who knows, you may already be building a career in this discipline,” he said.

Currently, the cybersecurity club is in seven top schools in Ghana, namely: St. Louis Girls SHS, Archbishop Porter Girls SHS, Aburi Girls SHS, Bolgatanga Girls SHS, Sunyani SHS, St. Augustine’s School, and Mfantsipem School.

The current club membership stands at 820 students from these seven (7), and the next School to launch this Educative Club facilitated by CyberGhana is Archbishop Porter Girls Senior High School, in the western region, on May 7, 2021.

The inaugural ceremony of Archbishop Porter Girls coincides with the opening of a Cyber Security and Forensic Center at the Takoradi Technical University. Both events will be held at respective campuses in Takoradi.