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The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana, in collaboration with the CSA, has hosted a virtual webinar to draw attention to the growing cybersecurity risks facing marketers and brands in an increasingly digital marketplace. The session held under the theme "Marketing in a Secure Digital Space Driving Safety, Trust and Accountability" brought together marketing professionals, cybersecurity experts and regulators.

Opening the event, the moderator said misinformation, digital manipulation, and data breaches posed serious threats to consumer trust, urging marketers to adopt higher ethical and security standards. Representing the CIMG, Mr Kwesi Kyei reminded participants that marketers were custodians of public confidence and must treat cybersecurity as central to modern marketing practice.

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the CSA, Mr Godfred Kumi Kwakye said cybersecurity had become a strategic business issue rather than a technical concern. He cautioned that marketers who managed valuable consumer data and digital engagement platforms were increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. He shared national statistics showing significant financial losses from phishing fraud, ransomware and impersonation schemes and warned that social media impersonation and misinformation campaigns were damaging brand credibility at a rapid pace.

Mr Kwakye traced the evolution of marketing into a data-driven discipline, arguing that the shift had expanded the attack surface for criminals, and touched on Ghanaian case studies involving banks, marketing agencies, start-ups and e-commerce firms to demonstrate that all sectors faced real and costly cyber risks.

He further outlined common threats to marketers, such as account takeovers, malware insertion and privacy violations, and provided practical tools, including call diversion checks, credential monitoring platforms, malware scanning services and Ghana’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GH)’s reporting portal.