Mr Philemon Kwame Ankomah, Chief Information Security at the Bank of Africa, has noted that activities of cyber fraudsters are increasing because more people are now trading online in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the fraudsters are taking undue advantage of the new normal to dupe people.
He further recommended constant changes to passwords and also taking time to assess the authenticity of email messages before opening them.
Mr Ankomah was speaking during a business webinar organized by the UKGCC in partnership with the BoA on the theme: ‘Banking in a COVID-19 environment: Dynamics for Corporates, SMEs and individuals’ on Thursday July 9.
“Take your time and go through the mails critically to determine whether the email is genuine or not before you open,” he said.
Regarding the information security at the BoA, he said the security of customers is paramount to the bank hence, the bank has taken measures to that effect.
“Bank of Africa is a certified in ISON27001 in information security management system and ISO 22301 in Business continuity management system. Which means we adhere to all 114 controls required by the international organization standards.
“We have implemented a lot of controls at the bank; system design, hardening of connections, software configuration, encryption protocols, jamming and spoofing detection and monitoring,” he noted.
The Executive Head of Corporate and Enterprise Banking at the Bank of Africa, Mr William Boateng, has said COVD-19 has drastically changed the ways of doing businesses across the globe including banking.
He has therefore called on businesses to quicken the pace at which they are adopting to the new ways or lose out.
He further noted that as part of efforts to support operators of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to keep their businesses afloat in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank of Africa (BoA) is providing payments, levies and tax advisory to all of its customers especially the SMEs.
The bank is also widening its payment platforms to make the payment of goods and services by its worldwide customers easier.
Mr William Boateng, said the emergence of the pandemic is redefining the ways of doing businesses across the globe and in all sectors of the economy.
Hence, the BoA felt the need to empower the SMEs on the efficient and effective ways of doing this business in this critical period.
He explained that businesses cannot continue to engage in the old ways of doing things during this period of the pandemic and expect to make profit and to also stay in business.
To that end, he said the BoA felt the need to support its numerous customers and SMEs operators to effectively carry out their operations using the new normal.
“Without the right partner there is the tendency to make mistakes,” he said, hence, the decision by the bank to support customers carry out their businesses in the comfort of their homes.
Mr Boateng further noted that in spite of the negativity surrounding the COVID-19, there are some positives that come along with the pandemic.
“In spite of the negativity we see around the pandemic, it is bringing new opportunities and businesses need to identify these opportunities to make sure they do businesses in an efficient manner,” he said.
He said the COVID-19 has been an agent for restructuring a lot of “our traditional ways of doing things
“It is redefining our business activities. If you don’t keep an open mind and think that there will be that time we can go back to normal things, you will lose out.”
He added : “the pandemic is redefining every activity., it is forcing humanity to see the other side and embracing new ways of performing tasks.
“It is teaching us as businesses new ways of doing things, opening our eyes to endless opportunities that come with using new technology. It is forcing us to reexamine our operations and to relook at our consumer behavior.”
He further advised businesses to embrace the new normal or risk losing out on opportunities to grow.
“Businesses that are slow in to adopting to changes are not surviving this pandemic and won’t survive,” he said.
Source: Laudbusiness.com
