Curacao Chronicle published an article on March 31, 2017, about Belize hosting its first symposium about national cybersecurity. Here’s a quick summary just for you.
In response to the increase in cyber-threat incidence, Belize will host its first national cybersecurity symposium from the 24th to the 27th of April.
The symposium is being presented as an essential first step in changing the national discourse on cyber issues. A broad range of local, regional and foreign delegates, including heads of technology associations, business executives, government ministers and public sector officials, are expected to attend the four-day conference.
Key points:
- Belize has a low Internet penetration rate. According to recent data from the World Bank, less than 40% of the state’s population is internet users. As a result, cybersecurity issues are not high on the list in much of Belizean society.
- Belize’s Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), John Avery, said that the conference was intentionally designed to bring together diverse voices and viewpoints so that a wide range of sectors could offer their support to the state’s cybersecurity action plan.
- Bevil Wooding, Executive Director of CaribNOG and Internet Strategist at the US-based Packet Clearing House, said the growing concern over the elevated risk of cybersecurity threats was not limited to Belize, but also the broader region.
- The Latin American and Caribbean Cyber Security Report, 2016, of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Development Bank, observed that unlike almost every other Central and South American country Belize has neither a cyber-defence policy nor a national CSIRT. As a result, cyber-attacks are primarily handled by the Belize Police Department’s IT Unit; A fact that was also observed in most Caribbean countries.
- The Public Utilities Commission of Belize and CaribNOG is coordinating the conference on behalf of the Belizean Government, working closely with a range of government ministries and state agencies, including the Central IT Office, the National Security Council, and the Chief Justice Office.
Reference: curacaochronicle.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.