Cyber breach hits education sector as 505 staff credentials leaked

Ghana’s education sector has reportedly suffered a significant cybersecurity breach, with 505 employee credentials from public institutions discovered on the dark web.

According to the National Cyber Security Emergency Response Team (CERT-GH), ongoing surveillance since January uncovered more than 5,000 stolen login records commonly known as stealer logs with over 1,000 of them already sold online to cybercriminals.

Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, in a speech read on his behalf by Professor Diyawu Mumin at the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month event in Accra, described the incident as a wake-up call for the sector. He said the breach exposes the increasing vulnerability of educational institutions to sophisticated cyberattacks.

“The education sector stores and manages vast amounts of sensitive personal and institutional data, making it an attractive target for hackers,” the Minister noted. He warned that rising cases of data theft, sextortion, and online scams were threatening public confidence in digital education systems.

In response, the Ministry of Education is reviewing its ICT in Education Policy to incorporate robust cybersecurity measures and plans to establish an Education Sector Computer Emergency Response Team (EduCERT) to prevent and respond to future attacks.

Officials from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and the Cyber Security Authority also underscored the urgent need for digital safety investments and regular cybersecurity training. They stressed that developing local expertise in cybersecurity is now critical to protecting the education sector and safeguarding national data infrastructure.