In The News
The LCCPMA Partners With GCA to Deploy Cybersecurity Toolkit for Government Agencies to Strengthen Cyber Defenses
Recently, the Liberia Cyber Crime Prevention and Mitigation Agency (LCCPMA), the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA), and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office held a virtual presentation of GCA’s Cybersecurity Toolkit for Small Business to the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) Council of the Republic of Liberia, a body comprising all ICT directors and assistant directors within the Liberian Government’s ministries, agencies, and commissions.
The toolkit is to be deployed across various governmental bodies in a roll-out plan that includes training sessions for local trainers, known as “train the trainers.”
GCA’s suite of free tools implements fundamental cyber hygiene controls and principles and can increase the protection and resilience of the Liberian Internet ecosystem as a whole. The toolkit, designed to address basic protection gaps in the cybersecurity posture of entities with limited investment capabilities, comprises user-friendly, scalable products that can help bolster the security of the country’s government agencies and private actors, with collateral benefits on critical infrastructure security and privacy protection.
LCCPMA is a non-governmental agency established in 2019 to provide cybersecurity and digital forensics education to the government and people of Liberia. The agency was accredited by the Ministry of Justice to implement its mandate.
Prior to COVID-19, LCCPMA provided numerous cybersecurity and digital forensics training sessions to several public institutions and private entities, including judiciary bodies, universities, and colleges across the country. At the heart of the pandemic, LCCPMA initiated a social media campaign to fight disinformation and started providing technical assistance to the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) in data integrity and privacy.
On November 19, 2020, after a series of conversations with GCA, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and a group of direct stakeholders, LCCPMA held the formal presentation ceremony of the toolkit, which was also attended virtually by Kenn Kern, Chief Information Officer of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (which is a co-founder of GCA) and Terry Wilson, Global Partnership Officer of GCA.
At the ceremony, James Nee Gedeo II, the Executive Director of LCCPMA, gave a brief overview of the agency and Marcus Johnson, its Chief Technology Officer, briefly introduced the functionalities of the toolkit, elaborating on a previous cyber crime awareness campaign presented to the CIOs Council. Hon. Sekou Kromah, Chief Information Officer of the Republic of Liberia, thanked GCA and LCCPMA and pledged that the toolkit will be used for its intended purpose. Cladius Thompson of LCCPMA also participated in the ceremony.
The second phase of the project, now being planned, will include comprehensive training by GCA to LCCPMA on the functionalities of the toolkit. The format will be a five-day train the trainers session to the CIOs Council that, apart from the toolkit, will cover other topics of cybersecurity and digital forensics education and awareness. This will give birth to another phase of the project where LCCPMA will visit various ministries, agencies, and commissions to provide cybersecurity education and awareness to their employees. After this awareness campaign, LCCPMA will undertake the distribution to non-governmental institutions, including private companies.
“I want to thank the Global Cyber Alliance for the cyber defensive toolkit that will be deployed across various Liberian ministries, agencies, and commissions. The toolkit will also be deployed across private sectors, including banks, insurance companies, law firms, private corporations, universities, and colleges. It will be used based on the mandates of both GCA and LCCPMA, which are providing cybersecurity education and awareness and distributing cyber crime defensive capabilities to institutions voluntarily, without any financial compensation. LCCPMA is very grateful for the level of cooperation between the two organizations and hopes to increase it further,” said James Nee Gedeo II.
“In peer with its mission to achieve an open, secure, and trusted Internet for all, GCA is proud to support the Liberian Government’s cyber resilience roadmap, thus providing stability and confidence in the country’s economy and institutions,” said Terry Wilson, GCA’s Global Partnership Officer.
For more information about how to become involved and support the LCCPMA efforts, you may contact James Nee Gedeo II at https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-nee-gedeo-122b7182 or LCCPMA at https://lrccpma.org/contact/.
