By: Staff Writer
August 18, 2023
The Caribbean must be prepared to do more when it comes to combatting cyber-crime as the price tag for attacks is $90bn and only will increase if increased due diligence is not a cornerstone for each jurisdiction.
Earl Harris, Asst. Director of Strategic Services, CARICOM IMPACS, said at a conference held in The Bahamas that the digital transformation the world is going through comes with a price and the Caribbean is not exempt from paying that price.
The Caribbean Council reports that the costs of cyber incidents in the LAC region totals $90bn annually. Cyberattacks increased by 131 percent between March 2019 and March 2020 and is averaging $80bn between 2021-2022.
Mr Harris noted, however, that “increased” due processes for compliance and strengthening the capacity of the criminal justice system can go a long way in ensuring that jurisdictions can identify what a cyber-attack is and how to deal with them moving forward.
Countries must also increase awareness capacity amongst decision makers, parliamentarians and other relevant authorities and also strengthen regional authorities in cybercrime surveillance, particularly implementing the CARICOM cyber security action plan.
The region is predominantly still and offshore financial centre, which should be understood as cyber surveillance is critical to the financial services’ survival. “Our ICT infrastructure has become critical to the daily operations of financial institutions, government services and public utilities to name a few. Unfortunately, however, some entities have prioritized functionality at the expense of security, which leaves them by extension vulnerable and exposed to cyber threats,” Mr Harris said.
The Caribbean was labelled a tier one threat for cyber-crime as far back as 2013, which means that dealing with the threat is a top priority and in 2023 it is still a tier one threat.
Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Jamaica, via a pre-recorded message, added: “Cybersecurity best practices in the EU can be made available to local practitioners. The Latin American and Caribbean Cyber Competence Centre, which was inaugurated last year in the Dominican Republic, serves as a hub for sharing the European Union’s collective expertise in cybersecurity and cybercrime. It organizes specialized trainings and facilitates practical collaboration between this region and the EU.”
She also said: “I’m also pleased to inform you that the Bahamas along with all Caribbean countries, has now also become eligible for another international cooperation program funded by the European Union. It is called EL PACCTO (Europe Latin America. Technical Assistance Programme against. Transnational Organized Crime) and it seeks to contribute to enhance security and justice initially only in Latin America and now also in the Caribbean.”