Public Encouraged to Participate in Cybersecurity Awareness Month Activities During October

Persons are encouraged to participate in activities slated for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month during October under the theme ‘Building Resilience – Securing Our Nation’.

The events will be hosted by the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team (JaCIRT), which is mandated to address matters regarding cyberthreat and deliver appropriate responses.

The month will kick off with a launch event on October 9 at Jamaica House, with each week, thereafter, focusing on a specific topic.

These include ‘Securing Digital Assets’, ‘Minimising Digital Footprint’, and ‘Ransomware As An Existential Dilemma’.

Other programmed engagements include lectures and webinars, a cyber careers symposium targeting students at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels and untrained employees working in the field.

National Cybersecurity Awareness Day, to be observed on October 31, will feature a variety of activities aimed at further educating the public about cybersecurity during JaCIRT’s annual exposition.

JaCIRT Director, Lieutenant Colonel Godphey Sterling, notes that the observance is consistent with the “global effort to ramp up awareness-building throughout the month of October”.

“In Jamaica, we have four weeks of activities planned… to amplify national awareness around cybersafety,” Col. Sterling said.

He was speaking during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ at the agency’s headquarters in Kingston on Wednesday (September 25).

Col. Sterling urged persons and organisations keen on safeguarding themselves against cybersecurity threats and attack, to participate in the month-long activities.

“Almost all of our devices are being connected over the Internet, which means both personal and business data can be easily accessed. This gives attackers increased opportunity to steal data and compromise systems. As such, security best practices, increased knowledge and understanding of the vulnerabilities and how we can keep our information assets safe is a start to developing better cyber [safeguards],” he emphasised.

For more information, persons can reach out to JaCIRT at (876) 920-4439.