Cybersecurity Threats in Ghana: A Complete Research Analysis

Ghana is rapidly emerging as one of West Africa’s most digitized economies, a transformation fueled by aggressive fintech innovation, widespread mobile money adoption, e-commerce growth, and ambitious national digitalization strategies. This digital leap, while economically promising, has dramatically expanded the nation’s cyber attack surface. As cybercriminal tactics grow more sophisticated globally, Ghana faces a unique and evolving constellation of virtual threats that directly impact individual citizens, businesses of all sizes, and the stability of critical national infrastructure. This article provides an authoritative, evidence-based overview of the principal cybersecurity threats confronting Ghana, synthesizing findings from government reports, international cybersecurity agencies, sector-specific analyses, and expert assessments to present a clear picture of the current risk landscape.

Key Points: The Ghana Cyber Threat Landscape at a Glance

Mobile Money Fraud: Ghana’s world-leading mobile money ecosystem (exceeding GHC 570 billion in 2024 transactions) is the primary battleground for financial cybercrime, driven by SIM-swap attacks, social engineering, and fake reversal scams.
Ransomware Surge: Double-extortion ransomware campaigns are targeting Ghana’s banking, healthcare, energy, and government sectors, with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) particularly vulnerable due to limited security resources.
Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Under Siege: Digitized operational technology in power grids, ports (like Tema), and telecom networks presents high-value targets; successful attacks could cause national disruption.
Digital Identity Exploitation: The centralized Ghana Card biometric database is a prime target; stolen identities are used for loan fraud, account takeover, and widespread impersonation.
Pervasive Online Scams: Business Email Compromise (BEC), romance scams, and payment diversion fraud remain rampant, contributing to millions in annual losses.
Supply Chain & Third-Party Risk: Increased reliance on cloud services and outsourced vendors creates new vulnerabilities, as attackers target less-secure partners to access larger organizations.
AI-Enhanced Attacks: Cybercriminals are leveraging artificial intelligence for more convincing phishing, automated attacks, and deepfake impersonation, outpacing many defensive capabilities.
Regulatory Response: The Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill 2025 represents a significant legislative update to strengthen protections, particularly for CNI, and modernize enforcement powers.

Background: Ghana’s Digital Acceleration and Its Security Implications

The Engine of Digitization: Fintech and Mobile Money

Ghana’s digital economy is not a future prospect but a present reality. The country’s mobile money interoperability system, launched in 2020, created one of the world’s most connected and active digital financial ecosystems. According to the Bank of Ghana, mobile money transaction values surpassed GHC 570 billion in 2024, a figure representing a massive portion of the nation’s GDP. This mass adoption, driven by initiatives like the Ghana.gov digital services platform and widespread smartphone penetration, has been a key driver of financial inclusion. However, this very success has made the financial sector the most attractive and lucrative target for cybercriminals operating within and against Ghana.

The Evolving Regulatory Framework

Ghana’s primary cybersecurity legislation is the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038). This established the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) and a legal foundation for protecting critical information infrastructure. Recognizing the accelerated threat landscape, Parliament is reviewing the Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill 2025. This legislative update is crucial, as it explicitly strengthens the security mandates for Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), enhances the NCA’s investigative and enforcement powers, and introduces more stringent data protection and breach notification requirements aligned with global standards. The bill’s progression underscores the government’s acknowledgment that existing laws require reinforcement to combat modern, cross-border cybercrime.

Analysis: Deep Dive into Major Threat Vectors

1. Mobile Money Fraud: The Epidemic Within the Financial System

Mobile money fraud is not merely a crime trend; it is a pervasive national security and economic stability issue. The fraud ecosystem is highly organized and adaptive. Key attack methodologies include:

Fake Reversal Scams: Criminals send messages claiming a transaction failed and instruct victims to dial a code (e.g., *170#) to reverse it. This code actually authorizes a new transfer to the fraudster’s account.
Social Engineering & Impersonation: Fraudsters call or text, posing as mobile money agents, bank officials, or family members in distress, manipulating victims into sending money or sharing PINs.
SIM-Swap Attacks: By socially engineering telecom staff or using stolen IDs, attackers port a victim’s phone number to a new SIM card. This grants them access to all SMS-based authentication, including mobile money and banking apps, leading to complete account takeover.
Fraudulent Digital Lending: Stolen identities are used to take out instant digital loans from fintech apps, with the victim left with debt and a damaged credit history.

The NCA and Bank of Ghana have consistently ranked mobile money fraud as a top-tier threat. The sheer volume of transactions means even a tiny success rate yields significant illicit gains. The psychological impact on victims—often losing life savings—erodes trust in the entire digital financial system.

2. Ransomware: The Extortion Engine Targeting Sectors

Ghana has moved from being a target of opportunity to a deliberate target for ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) gangs. The shift to double extortion—where data is both encrypted and stolen before a ransom demand—is particularly devastating. Threat actors not only disrupt operations but threaten to publish sensitive data (customer records, financial statements, employee data) if payment is not made.

Highly Targeted Sectors:

Banking & Fintech: Attacks aim to steal customer data for further fraud, disrupt services for competitive advantage, or extract large ransoms.
Healthcare: Hospitals and clinics, often running on outdated systems with patient data, are prime targets. Life-threatening disruptions make them more likely to pay.
Energy & Utilities: Attacks on power distribution companies can cause outages, amplifying pressure to pay.
SMEs: The weakest link. Many lack dedicated IT security, backups, or incident response plans, making them easy marks for automated attacks.

Incident response teams in Ghana report a noticeable increase in ransomware inquiries from mid-sized enterprises, indicating a broadening of targets beyond large corporations.

3. Attacks on Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

The digitization of Operational Technology (OT)—the hardware and software that monitors and controls physical equipment—has created a dangerous convergence with Information Technology (IT). The Port of Tema, a vital economic artery, relies on digital logistics and customs systems. The national grid and telecom backbone are managed via networked control systems.

Potential Attack Scenarios:

Disruption of electricity distribution through SCADA system compromise.
Manipulation of port logistics software causing cargo delays, economic loss, and trade disruption.
National or regional telecom outages via attacks on core network providers.
Compromise of government service portals (e.g., Ghana.gov) leading to data breaches and loss of public trust.

The NCA has explicitly identified CNI as a priority for protection under the 2025 Amendment Bill, which mandates stricter security audits, 24/7 monitoring for designated assets, and mandatory incident reporting.

4. Digital Identity Theft and Ghana Card Exploitation

The Ghana Card, the national biometric ID, is the cornerstone of the government’s “Digital Ghana” agenda. Its integration into banking (for KYC – Know Your Customer), tax filing, and national service portals makes the central database a “crown jewel” for attackers. While the system itself has robust biometric safeguards, the endpoints—where citizens interact with the card—are vulnerable.

Exploitation Pathways:

Stolen card details (combined with other harvested data) are used to open fraudulent bank accounts.
Identity thieves apply for digital loans and government benefits using cloned or stolen credentials.
Compromised credentials from data breaches elsewhere (e.g., a fintech app) are used for “credential stuffing” attacks on Ghana Card-linked services.
Deepfake technology could potentially be used to spoof biometric verification in high-stakes scenarios.

The legal and financial repercussions for victims are severe and long-lasting, involving complex processes to prove their identity was stolen.

5. Online Fraud, Scams, and Social Engineering

Beyond mobile money, the broader landscape of online deception thrives. The Ghana Police Service’s Cyber Crime Unit and the NCA report consistent volumes of:

Business Email Compromise (BEC): Attackers spoof executive emails to authorize fraudulent wire transfers, targeting companies with international transactions.
Romance Scams: Fraudsters build fake relationships online (often on social media or dating apps) to eventually request money for emergencies, investments, or to facilitate a meeting.
Payment Diversion: Intercepting and altering invoice details during B2B transactions to redirect payments to attacker-controlled accounts.
Employment & Scholarship Scams: Promising fake jobs, visas, or educational grants in exchange for upfront fees, preying on the aspirations of youth and job seekers.

These scams are low-tech but high-impact, relying on human psychology rather than technical exploits. Official figures indicate that cybercrime losses in Ghana reached at least GHC 19 million in the first nine months of 2025, with a 52% increase in reported incidents compared to the previous year.

6. Weak Supply Chain and Third-Party Security

Ghanaian organizations, in their rush to adopt cloud services (SaaS), outsource IT support, and use third-party platforms for payments or customer service, are inheriting new risks. A vulnerability in a single vendor’s software or a breach in an outsourced call center can provide a direct pathway into a company’s network.

Common Vulnerabilities:

Unpatched vulnerabilities in vendor software.
Inadequate security controls in outsourced data centers or cloud configurations.
Excessive permissions granted to third-party contractors.
Lack of security clauses in vendor contracts and insufficient due diligence during vendor selection.

This “supply chain attack” vector is increasingly favored by sophisticated actors because it provides access to multiple victims through a single, often less-defended, entry point.

7. The Rising Sophistication: AI-Powered Cyber Threats

Globally, cybercriminals are weaponizing artificial intelligence, and Ghana is not insulated from these trends. AI democratizes and amplifies attack capabilities:

Hyper-Personalized Phishing: AI scrapes social media and public data to generate highly convincing, context-aware phishing emails and messages that bypass traditional spam filters.
Automated Vulnerability Discovery: AI tools can scan vast networks for unpatched systems at a speed and scale impossible for humans.
Deepfake Impersonation: AI-generated voice and video can be used for highly credibleCEO fraud or to bypass voice-based authentication systems.
Malware Evasion: Malware can use AI to dynamically alter its code to avoid detection by signature-based antivirus software.

The defensive challenge is clear: Ghana’s cybersecurity ecosystem must evolve from reactive, rule-based tools to proactive, intelligence-driven, AI-assisted security platforms to keep pace.

Practical Advice: Building Resilience for Individuals, Businesses, and Government

For Individual Citizens

Mobile Money Hygiene: Never share your PIN or OTP. Verify any “reversal” or “upgrade” instructions by calling your provider’s official number. Use app-based transactions where possible, as they are more secure than USSD.
Password & Authentication: Use strong, unique passwords for all accounts. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on email, banking, and social media accounts, preferably using an authenticator app (not SMS where possible).
Social Media Vigilance: Limit publicly shared personal information (birthdate, address, family names) that can be used for social engineering. Be skeptical of unsolicited offers and “too good to be true” investments.
Software Updates: Regularly update your smartphone, computer, and router operating systems and applications to patch security vulnerabilities.
Report Immediately: Report any suspected fraud to your mobile money provider, bank, and the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) via their incident reporting portal or hotline. Prompt action can sometimes mitigate losses.