CIRT Division Calls for Stronger Collaboration Between Public and Private-Sector Organisations

The Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) Division is encouraging stronger collaboration between public and private-sector organisations to strengthen Jamaica’s ability to respond to major cybersecurity incidents.

Director of the CIRT Division, Retired Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Gopher Sterling, has said that greater integration of private-sector cybersecurity companies into the national response framework would help mobilise additional expertise and resources when incidents overwhelm the capacity of individual agencies.

“The private sector, by and large, tends to operate on a separate track. What we want to do is invite them to come more fully under the national ecosystem governance structure,” he told JIS News.

He said a coordinated approach would enable the Division to call on private-sector companies for technical assistance and information when responding to multiple incidents or threats affecting different parts of the country.

The Director further noted that during a national emergency, the resources of the CIRT Division or other responding entities could become stretched, making support from organisations with specialised cybersecurity capabilities particularly valuable.

“If the CIRT is responding to a number of incidents and its capacities are overwhelmed, before we reach out to our regional partners, we can say to a company, ‘We need two or three responders here,’ or ‘We need to see what you’re seeing with respect to this incident’,” Lt. Col. Sterling said.

He pointed out that a national emergency can also create opportunities for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities in other parts of the digital ecosystem, while response teams are occupied with immediate threats.

Lt. Col. Sterling stressed that information sharing and coordinated incident response are important for identifying related threats and ensuring that available resources are directed where they are most needed.

The CIRT Division provides national cybersecurity coordination through the Jamaica National Cybersecurity Standards Framework and the National Cyber Incident Response Plan. These mechanisms outline escalation procedures, response responsibilities, and the transfer of responsibility between agencies.