Jamaica’s business fraternity is being put on high alert amid increasing cyberattacks costing the country about J$12 to J$15 billion annually.

Speaking at the launch of CyberEYE Caribbean in Jamaica on December 12 at the AC Hotel in Kingston, regional CEO Ian John explained that the island is at significant risk because of low investment in cybersecurity. He said that’s why CyberEYE is partnering with local stakeholders to make cybersecurity more affordable and accessible to small, medium and large businesses.

“The company’s mission is to be the trusted and preferred cybersecurity partner in the Caribbean region. Our partnership has already brought unprecedented partnership to the region, remediating some of the most sophisticated and devastating cyber-attacks at a fraction of the cost. It is our hope to partner and collaborate with other local practitioners to enhance and augment Jamaica’s security posture,” said John.

The regional CEO stressed that the motivation to establish a presence in Jamaica was fueled by a collective desire among technology experts in the region to stave off catastrophic fallouts in the business environment which could cost billions of dollars and irreparable damage to brands.

The launch and summit event was dubbed “Existential 2023 – Protecting Jamaica’s Businesses from the Increasing Global Cyber Threats.” 

The event brought together over 150 industry experts, government officials, academia and business leaders to address the pressing issue of cyber threats in the region. The summit served as a platform for insightful discussions on the high cyber threat level faced by Jamaica and the wider Caribbean region. 

Keynote speaker and CEO of 876 Technology Solutions, Trevor Forrest, shared that the Caribbean region is increasingly being attacked by cyber criminals who before now only focused on Central and North America according to the cybersecurity exposure index. 

“We look at it and tend to think that Central and North America are most affected, however we in the Caribbean are becoming easy targets for cyber criminals because businesses in the region are exposed due to the lack of measures in place to protect data” Forrest stated.

He added that part of the challenge is that some business owners view cybersecurity breaches as a negligible cost, with some breaches being as low as US$25,000. But Forrest emphasized that these costs will balloon when other factors are considered.

“When you get attacked you have to now spend time and money on incident response, protecting the reputation of the business or institution and investing in the systems that would have mitigated the attack”, he said. 

Additionally, he noted that when a company is a victim of a cyber-attack, they face increasing scrutiny and will usually undergo compliance audits, and also lose stakeholder confidence. That is where the real cost comes from, Forrest explained. 

“Cybersecurity is not a one-time fix, especially for companies collecting big data frequently”, Forrest said, adding that cybersecurity monitoring and screening is an ongoing commitment. “In some cases, it can take more than 200 days to identify a breach.”

Stuart Jubb, managing director for UK-based cybersecurity firm Crossword Plc Group, disclosed that cybersecurity monitoring is one of the benefits Jamaican businesses will now have access to because of a longstanding partnership between Crossword and CyberEYE. He said Crossword is known for their expertise in combing the dark web and uncovering malicious attacks before they strike.

At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Godphey Sterling, head of the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team emphasised that tackling the cybercrime issue in Jamaica requires an all-hands-on deck approach.

“To protect our businesses and by extension our national interest we must adopt a multifaceted approach to cybersecurity and the first step is awareness”, he said.

Lieutenant Sterling who was speaking on behalf of Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with direct oversight for Skills and Digital Transformation noted “in addition to upgrading our technology we must also train our people to identify, prevent and respond to cyberthreats, we must build a fortress around our digital assets,”

In his presentation, CyberEYE Jamaica director Anthony Smith said that the present is the opportune time for Jamaica to fortify some of its digital transformation practices, as the country had to adapt quickly during the heights of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Post the pandemic, we must urgently look at our processes and systems to effectively transform our digital landscape, with cybersecurity being an integral part of the transformation process”, Smith said. 

Another key topic addressed during the summit was the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential implications in the world of cybersecurity. Speakers shed light on the dual nature of AI, discussing both its potential as a powerful tool for strengthening cybersecurity defenses and its capacity to be exploited by malicious actors. 

The importance of proactive investment in AI research and development to stay ahead of cyber threats was emphasized.

To close out the summit, technology entrepreneur, Chris Reckord, and Chukwuemeka Cameron, attorney-at-law and founder, Design Privacy, joined a panel discussion with Ian John and Stuart Jubb. 

Cameron pointed out that while many cyber-attacks emanate outside of the country, Jamaica is also plagued by insider threats. With that said, he applauded legislators for the work being done with the Data Protection Act which addresses this concern. “Under our data protection legislation, it does recognise insider threats and as such there are clauses which criminalizes insider threats.” 

In his closing comments, Reckord advised the audience to be proactive and invest in cybersecurity before it’s too late, noting that “your simple antivirus software won’t work anymore.” He reminded attendees that cybercriminals are using sophisticated and advanced technology which makes it easier to breach traditional and outdated firewalls.