Dr. Pedro Tavares N. published a post on September 30, 2018, about the direct efforts of the Dominican Republic to recognize the growing issue of cybersecurity. Here’s a quick summary just for you.
The Dominican Republic is estimated to have a population of about 10.35 million, and approximately 58.5% are internet users. This statistic is an increase from a 38.7% rate of Internet penetration in 2011 when the country’s population was slowly approaching 10 million.
Key points:
- With such a large quantity of Internet users, many of whom are new to the cyber realm, it is fitting to educate the public on the subject and to take action to respond. Although part of the second-largest landmass island in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic cannot do so without external assistance.
- The country still lacks an officially recognized Cyber Security Incident Response Team or a national response strategy. The Dominican Republic also suffers from state agencies and the public sector that have failed to coordinate their cybersecurity efforts.
- To better investigate cyber events within the state, the Dominican Republic established a High Technology Investigation Department and the Interagency Commission against Crimes and High Tech crime.
- Also, the Dominican Republic has successfully passed the High Technology Crimes Act No. 53/07 and the High Technology Crimes and Offenses Act 2007 as well as the Electronic Commerce, Documents and Digital Signatures Act 2002; bill allows for more suitable and sufficient punishment of cybercriminals.
- The Dominican Republic also collaborates with the Council of Europe’s Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) and has coordinated a national awareness-raising initiative through the National Commission for Information Security and Knowledge (CNSIC).
- With the guidance of the Inter-American Committee on Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States (OAS) and INTERPOL, the Dominican Republic has managed to increase financial resources for cybersecurity strategies and capacity building.
- While there is still room for growth, there is a clear indication that the Dominican Republic has recognized the importance of cybersecurity and is making proper preparations to tackle this growing problem.
Reference: Llinkedin Pulse
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.