The Jamaica Gleaner published an article on August 14, 2015, authored by David Jessop titled New Threats To Caribbean Cyber Security.
Caribbean countries racing the consequences of not heeding the rise in cybercrime shows the lack of information security in many critical government and organization systems.
Key points:
- The PricewaterhouseCoopers Global State of Information Security Survey 2015 showing a rise internationally of 48 per cent compared to 2014. Despite this, the Caribbean remains negligent in exercising police and practices concerning cybersecurity.
- Highlight the vulnerability of critical systems within the Caribbean, the government website of St Vincent & the Grenadines was taken over by unknown individuals claiming affiliations with Middle Eastern militias.
- The incident with St Vincent & the Grenadines postdates previous attacks on affiliates of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. This has prompted the invitation of foreign nations to provide technical assistance.
- The continual attacks inspired countries such as Jamaica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent to become active participants in securing their digital information by establishing cyber incident response teams, developing cyber strategies and encouraging collaboration with other nations.
- However, the Organization of American States (OAS) 2014 and 2015 reports highlight that Caribbean states growing defence is sluggish which exposes them to severe risks as cyber-criminals increasingly target critical infrastructures with ever-evolving tactics. The 2015 report noted that lack of funding and an unmet desire for government leadership in this area has left cyber-defence for many states gravely short-handed.
- As governments encourage the growth of digitized economies to generate growth, they are advised to make cybersecurity their core cost and to facilitate public and private sector collaboration for information security.
- Steps need to be taken in the form of legislation, outreach for expertise and awareness programs for vulnerable sectors.
Reference: jamaica-gleaner.com
Contributed by: Contributed by Kyle Sterling from Jamaica. Kyle is a member of our Caribbean Cyber Support Team (CCST) initiative on Discord. CCST is a collaborative group on the Discord platform for Caribbean people interested in IT, from beginners to experts.
If you’re from the Caribbean, learn more and join the group by visiting caribbeancst.org.