Lieutenant Colonel Godphey Sterling, Director of the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team (JaCIRT) - JIS photo
By Kimone Witter
Director of the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team (JaCIRT), Lieutenant Colonel Godphey Sterling, is reporting a 78 per cent reduction in the number of attempted cyberattacks experienced locally over the last year.
Colonel Sterling says the decline is due primarily to greater awareness within the population.
He says actions are being taken to mitigate vulnerabilities rather than addressing breaches, and attackers now find that they have fewer vulnerable enterprises and connections they can exploit.
But, in the interview with JIS, the JaCIRT director noted that despite the reduction in attempted cyberattacks, there has been an increase in the number of ransomware compromises experienced in Jamaica.
Compromises have been identified in the hotel industry as well as at financial institutions, insurance companies and media entities, with some cases involving the exfiltration of personally identifiable information.
Colonel Sterling urged affected entities to report the matter to the Office of the Information Commissioner and inform their clients of potential data exposure, particularly those in the financial sector.
He also sought to advise clients of affected financial institutions to pay close attention to their balances for at least the next six months to ensure they can spot any undue or unfamiliar transactions, particularly for large sums.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
