The Tribune published an article on July 20, 2017, about the Bahamas’ ranking in the GCI index. Here’s a quick summary just for you.
Yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister admitted that the Bahamas “continues to fall too far down the scale” after the country was ranked 129th out of 164 nations when it comes to its commitment and effectiveness in the fight against cybercrime. K P Turnquest agreed that the Bahamas ranking in the Global Cyber Security Index, released by the International Telecommunications Union, could threaten the financial services industry and the nation’s ability to improve its information technology capabilities.
Key points:
- The GCI put the Bahamas below ‘economic powerhouses’ such as Gabon, Nauru, etc., regarding, strength, and effectiveness of cybersecurity infrastructure, agencies, and legislation.
- The nation’s 129th ranking is lower than the 121st place it presently holds in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing’ business ranking. On a regional level, the country was positioned below Jamaica, the leader who took the 85th position.
- Mr Turnquest said that the government needed to grasp better the reason for the Bahamas ranking of the ITU GCI.
- He said that while the Bahamas rankings in international indices were indeed “subjective,” the government was conscious that foreign investors’ views of that nation could easily be affected by them. And, given Bahamas’ dependence on financial services and other data-based sectors, and its hopes for further economic diversification through IT, the GCI index ranking could be damaging.
- With IT becoming an integral part of business, Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s telecommunications office, stressed that the increasing cyber-crime threat meant knowledge and protection measures were necessary.
- Local business and individuals alike have also become increasingly acquainted with hackers and senders of malware, spyware, and various types of computer viruses.
- CEO of the Utilities Regulation and the Competition Authority (URCA), Stephen Bereaux, said that care had to be taken when interpreting indices such as the GCI, as they often did not reflect the current affairs in a given country.
Reference: tribune242.com
Contributed by: Sabrina Shim from Jamaica. Sabrina is a member of the WISC Discord group from the G5 Cyber Security Foundation Ltd. Learn more about WISC (Women in InfoSec Caribbean) at wiscaribbean.org. WISC is a non-profit initiative supporting Caribbean women and girls to develop a career in Information Security.