National Cyber Security Strategy Launched

The Government has strengthened its resolve to protect the country’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, with the launch of the National Cyber Security Strategy.

In addition to the strategy, there is the ‘Stop, Think, Connect’ campaign, aimed at public education on ways to protect systems from cyber attacks.

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says given the importance of the Internet in communication and commercial transactions, all sectors “must be proactively engaged in the search for solutions, if we are to secure ourselves from the pernicious and pervasive threats of cyber criminality.”

Mr. Paulwell was speaking at the launch of the Strategy, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in New Kingston, on January 28.

Contained in the Strategy, which seeks to ensure that network infrastructure, and in particular, critical systems are resilient to cyber threats, will be targeted campaigns to facilitate understanding potential threats and risks likely to be faced by particular stakeholder groups, and action that they can take to protect themselves.

There will also be the establishment of a Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT), that will ensure that risk assessments are undertaken, and the necessary preventive measures and best practices and standards are applied and promoted in the public and private sectors.

“Several authoritative and global research studies have clearly established the link between ICT and our growth in Gross Domestic Product. More recently, with broadband being considered critical to economic and social development, more and more studies have focused on elaborating this link,” the Minister noted.

He informed that over the last two years, the police have dealt with about 2,000 cyber crime cases annually.

For his part, Commissioner of Police, Dr. Carl Williams, said they have established a Cyber Division, equipped with new machines and personnel.

He pointed out that there will be increased focus on cyber crimes by the police, and that criminal investigations in the future will have a heavy reliance on technology.