Election 2024: Offline voting solves 70% of electoral interference issues – Data Privacy expert
Published:
4 months ago
Source:
MyJoyOnline
Data Privacy and Information Security specialist, Desmond Israel, has emphasised the importance of offline voting as a critical measure to counteract electoral interference in Ghana. This comes after the Africa Center for Digital Transformation (ACDT) cautioned Ghana's Electoral Commission and other stakeholders in the upcoming general elections of a potential cyber-attack. Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, Desmond Israel asserted that the decision to conduct voting offline significantly mitigates the risk of cyberattacks on Election Day.
"Security by obscurity, I think we have achieved that already by saying that we want to vote offline, and for me, that is 70% of our problem solved," he said. Read also: Election 2024: EC must prepare for possible cyber-attack on December 7 - ACDT
He said that while this approach addresses a significant portion of the security concerns, the country still faces considerable challenges from information manipulation in terms of misinformation, disinformation, fake news, and propaganda, as well as Ghana's overall cyberinfrastructure. According to him, the nation's cyber defenses, like other countries, remain vulnerable, particularly in terms of protection against state-sponsored cyber warfare.
"As a country, we have a long way to go in terms of our cyber infrastructure.