Cybercrime on the rise

As countries in the Caribbean continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, a regional security expert is warning that cybercrime is on the rise, and contends that the region must get prepared for that growing threat.

The advice is coming from Captain Errington Shurland, Executive Director of the Regional Security System (RSS).

According to Captain Shurland, during the various lockdowns across the region, the RSS observed that traditional criminal operations appeared to settle down. Since the lockdown, that criminal activity has increased in some jurisdictions, as has cybercrime, the trade in counterfeit and substandard goods, as well as fraud and schemes linked to organised property crime.

He made the comments yesterday during a panel discussion focused on the Caribbean’s response to COVID-19, which was held as part of the Caribbean Public Health Agency’s 65th Annual Health Research Conference, hosted in collaboration with the French Development Agency. The four-day conference is being held virtually this year under the theme ‘Pandemic, NCDs and Climate Change: The Caribbean’s Triple Threat’.

“This, I’m afraid, is going to be the modus operandi of criminal activity in the future as we embrace e-commerce, as we embrace more and more trading, as we embrace education on digital platforms [and] meetings on digital platforms. Criminals will have new and adapted ways of attacking our people using the virtual platform,” he stated.

Captain Shurland’s comments came as he indicated that Caribbean countries are not the only ones that are susceptible to cyber-attacks, and the implications are far reaching. He made the point as he referred to the cyber-attack that occurred in the United States last month, which forced a shutdown of one of the top US fuel pipelines.

“The impact of that is significant – the cost of fuel went up significantly and the impact of that is not finished, because you need fuel for manufacturing and processing, the cost of living went up [and] the cost of eating went up,” he stated.

The RSS head, noting that a criminal mind is an extremely smart mind, cautioned that if there are any vulnerabilities that can be breached, they will take advantage of it. He said therefore, that as we focus more on using digital media, steps must be taken to safeguard our countries from such attacks.

“One of the vulnerabilities in the region is that I don’t think we are properly prepared for that type of threat. We need now to look at cybercrime as perhaps up there with gun crime, with drugs and so on, and be properly prepared. Whether it is your CSIRT [Computer Security Incident Response Team] that can do that investigation, to be able to be proactive enough to recognise that there’s a vulnerability and be prepared to respond to that vulnerability,” executive director of the RSS stated.

His remarks came as he spoke of the RSS’ role in helping to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. He said that part of their work included flying COVID-19 samples on a regular basis to CARPHA for testing. He indicated that this has been the case since February 2020, and to date, they have logged 256 flights and over 1 200 flying hours. Those flights, he said, also

facilitated the repatriation of individuals for medical treatment and on humanitarian grounds; the movement of medical personnel; the movement of medical technicians; and the movement of PPE and other COVID-19 related supplies including sanitiser and bleach. (JRT)