Banks and financial institutions in Ghana must secure their IT platforms to prevent hackers from comprimising their systems.

This is according to the chief executive officer at Kofi Anna Information Communication Technology Centre Dorothy Gordon, who said cases of cyber crime targeted at financial institutions was on the rise in Ghana.

"There are very professional hackers in the sub-region who are only waiting for the banks and financial institutions to open up the use of their IT platforms for more enhanced transactions for them to strike their systems," Gordon said.

She urged banks in Ghana and the entire West African region to implement more security measures for their IT operations to prevent any threats their funds may face from cyber criminals.

Gordon also expressed fears that if the right security systems were not put in place, the full roll-out of mobile money in the country Could expose customers of various mobile networks to serious risks.

“Mobile phones including the smart phones we have today can easily be hacked into by these persons and all the information one has can be stolen,” said Gordon.