Companies Urged to Strengthen Cybersecurity Measures

Companies in the private and public sectors are being urged to strengthen existing cybersecurity measures, to safeguard against evolving cyber threats and risks.

The appeal comes from Head of the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team (JaCIRT), Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Godphey Sterling, who was addressing a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’, on September 28.

“We are seeing a whole slew of existing and emerging threats. There are 15 main threats that all business entities must take into consideration. These include malware, web-based attacks, identity theft, inside threats, and data breach,” he noted.

Since the start of the calendar year, JaCIRT has recorded more than 700 reports of cybercrimes.

Lt. Col. Sterling pointed out that there has been a rise in distributed denial-of- service attacks, where attackers prevent users from accessing online services and sites.

He emphasised that all companies are susceptible to cyberattacks. However, “the degree of vulnerability will be based on the steps you take [to protect yourself]. If you work from the inside out, then the first line of defence are your employees. You have to train them in security awareness and ensure that they are able to recognise vulnerabilities where they exist and encourage them to report these,” he added.

Lt. Col. Sterling also recommended that businesses invest in legitimate software, plus upgrade and update as necessary; stay away from free and questionable software, which may have malicious codes embedded in them; and properly configure routers and fire walls.

“Businesses must also recognise the important role they play in the whole cybersecurity ecosystem [and understand] that resilience can only be achieved if we all play our part. As far as the cost for being cyber secure [is concerned], not being cyber secure will cost much more,” he said.

“Let us move forward with our different strengths and weaknesses and in a collaborative way, build on these, so that we can help to build the capability of the cybersecurity ecosystem in Jamaica,” Lt. Col. Sterling emphasised.

Companies can reach out to the JaCIRT via email, social media, online or walk-in visits for assistance in developing a more stringent cybersecurity approach.

JaCIRT is a Division under the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, established to deliver on the mandate outlined in the National Cybersecurity Strategy of 2015, to address matters regarding cyberthreats and provide appropriate responses.