Shutdown of 2G phones may have limited impact on cybercrime - Forrest

 

Cyber security expert Trevor Forrest says Jamaica may be overestimating the impact of decommissioning 2G-only devices on cybercrime, locally.

 

He made the assertion after one of the two local telecommunications service providers, Flow, on Monday shutdown its second generation network usage, blocking customers who remain on 2G-only devices from accessing mobile services.

 

Its competitor, Digicel, is set to do the same come August 31.

 

The move is expected to affect businesses that use point of sale machines, some vehicle tracking systems, gate openers, the elderly and tradesmen who primarily use second generation mobile phones.

 

Mr. Forrest believes that the decision, which has been on the books for sometime now, is a necessary cost of progress.

 

He says, while the change will not stamp out lottery scamming, it will stifle the communication channel for some of the most dangerous persons in Jamaica's criminal network. 

 

"What the law enforcement is really lauding is the moving away from 2G to 3G, 4G facilitates some capabilities that didn't exist before. What you may find is a lot of 2G phones are the ones you find in prisons, and they are still used to communicate with people outside. So I think you might find that a huge amount of that kind of activity immediately goes away with this change." 

 

Mr. Forrest was a guest on the Morning Agenda on Power 106FM.