(Business in Cameroon) - Belgium has agreed to share its cybersecurity knowledge to help Cameroon strengthen its abilities in this area. As part of this effort, the European partner will provide undisclosed funding for a cybersecurity and cryptography training program that will soon take place at the University of Bamenda, Northwest region.

The initiative, which was presented last August 31 by representatives from the Belgian embassy and the Free University of Brussels, also includes the creation of a cybersecurity research center in Cameroon. According to the financing timetable, the Belgian government will be in charge for 5 years before passing on the baton to Cameroon. The program will offer academic and professional training up to the doctoral level. Learner registration is open until September 10, 2023.

This new anticybercrime program comes against a backdrop of growing insecurity in Cameroon's cyberspace. According to the national ICT agency (Antic), cybercriminal activities in the country mostly include scamming (financial fraud on the Internet), skimming (credit card fraud), Simbox fraud (an electronic box used to bill international telephone traffic at the national rate), web defacement (unauthorized modifications to a website's home page), spoofing (identity theft), etc. Antic also reveals that the number of cybercriminals in Cameroon is growing steadily with huge impact on the economy.

Official data showed that Cameroon lost CFA12.2 billion to cybercrime activities in 2021, and 27,052 vulnerabilities were spotted in the IT security systems of the country's public and private entities (ministries, telecoms operators, banks, public administrative establishments) that same year.