The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has unveiled its cutting-edge Financial Industry Command Security Operations Centre (FICSOC), a state-of-the-art command center aimed at bolstering cyber-security measures within the country’s digital financial industry.
As cyber threats continue to rise, the FICSOC represents the first central bank-funded and owned facility of its kind in the sub-region.
The initiative serves as a pivotal component of the BoG’s strategy to enhance threat intelligence sharing, industry situational awareness, and incident response for regulated institutions.
The establishment of the FICSOC stems from the BoG’s 2018 issuance of cyber and information security directives, mandating that all regulated financial institutions implement robust security controls to ensure the safety of digital financial operations.
Over the course of 36 months, the directive was progressively implemented and closely supervised by the BoG. With the introduction of the FICSOC, the BoG aims to create an industry security information and event management system (SIEMS), enabling participating institutions to exchange logs, alerts, and aggregated information.
This milestone was commemorated by the presence of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Ghana’s Vice President, who emphasized the crucial role of the project in fortifying cybersecurity resilience across the financial sector.
Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison emphasized the FICSOC’s significance in providing real-time visibility into cyber threats targeting the banking sector.
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Acknowledging the evolving nature of cyber risks, Dr. Addison disclosed that the BoG and the nation’s cybersecurity authorities are collaborating to improve the banking sector’s cybersecurity posture. This was done in recognition of the increasing nature of cyber dangers. These move include discussions on the implementation of the Cybersecurity Act 2020, Act 1038, tailored to the sector’s specific needs.
The FICSOC serves as a platform for secure sharing, collaboration, and risk analysis, facilitating a coordinated approach between the regulator and member banks to combat cybersecurity threats while ensuring the confidentiality and independence of daily operations.
