Air traffic control requires robust security

An information technology expert in Accra, Mr Godfred Davidson, has called on the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to be extra vigilant and constantly improve on the security of its Air Traffic Control (ATC) system to prevent hacking.

He said there were intelligent and professional hackers on the loose who were developing software, spyware and other computer applications on daily basis to obtain unauthorised access to computer/management information systems such as the aviation  traffic control systems, banking systems and popular websites in order to cause harm to its victims.

Mr Davidson, who gave the advice in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in Accra last week, said there were experts and programmers,  who had the know-how to penetrate even the most sophisticated systems for their own malicious motives. 

His call comes at a time when the Ministry of Communication recently announced that 11  government of Ghana websites hosted by the national Information Technology Agency (nITA) were brought down by a Turkish Hacking Group.

Even though the affected websites are up and running at the moment, experts indicate that there are still several vulnerabilities because most government portals, including websites of major key state and private institutions, have weak security systems.

Mr Davidson, who is also a website analyst, indicated that a hacker could get into a security system or website for about a year before anyone could notice.

“And so therefore, the state as matter of urgency, must employ an expert who can easily read through the system before the hackers strike,” he said.

He said that the cyber attack came during the same period as President John Dramani Mahama was in Germany pushing for help to fight terrorism in the West African subregion.

“Even though hackers operate with malicious intentions, these two incidents might be synonymous” he added. — GB

writers email; kwofimaclean@gmail.com