The Jamaica Gleaner published an article on March 17, 2019, titled Caribbean Cybersecurity Response Must Evolve.
As technology evolves the measures by which are taken to prevent and mitigate the malicious actions from encroaching on the meaning of democracy. This goes heavily for Caribbean countries, who for a great deal are have not yet caught up to the proverbial race.
Key points:
- British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt spoke on the subject of Deterrence in the Cyber Age. The foreign secretary made mention to clear policy and practical responses to malicious cyber-attacks which multiple reports suggest now pose a fundamental threat to democracy.
- Experts predict countries small or large with limited resources, high internet, and social media penetration such as those in the Caribbean, will need to consider alliances and defence arrangements to protect their democratic systems, as well as their economies and citizens.
- Britain was increasing the number of ‘cyber attaches’ in its embassies around the world to work alongside host governments to raise the cost of the malicious cyber activity and safeguard a free and secure internet.
- Though there is the use of data harvesting by Cambridge Analytical and others, and the related use of carefully targeted social media stories in some election campaigns, there is so far no evidence of third-country interference in the Caribbean electoral process.
- Professor Sadie Creese, in a report published UK’s Global Cyber Security Centre (GCSCC), wrote: “If we do not ensure that cybersecurity capacity exists across the entirety of cyberspace we will inevitably develop cyber ghettos, places where harm is prevalent and where attacks can be successfully deployed and also from where they can easily be launched.”
- Over the last two years, there has been a movement towards much deeper coordination between national security and law enforcement bodies, the Caricom Implementation Agency for Crime and Security or IMPACS.
- Reports say that the US is considering restricting in Europe the sensitive information it shares with some of its allies if they decide to use the next generation of Chinese telecommunications technology provided by Huawei. While GCHQ, the agency that manages the UK’s offensive and defensive cyber capacity, says it can manage any such risk, the United States appears not to be so sure.
Reference: caribbean.cepal.org
Contributed by: Kyle Sterling from Jamaica. Kyle is a member of the CCST Discord group from the G5 Cyber Security Foundation Ltd. Learn more about CCST (Caribbean Cyber Support Team) by visiting caribbeancst.org. CCST is a collaborative group on the Discord platform for Caribbean people in IT, from beginners to experts.