CARICOM Cyber Security Training in Belize
Over the last two days, the Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) held a timely workshop on cyber security. The issue has been at the forefront of local discourse following a cyber-attack on Belize Electricity Limited. This workshop was organized to engage representatives of CARICOM member states in discussions surrounding the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of cyber crimes in the region. These discussions fall within the European Union’s Action Plan for Capacity Development for CARICOM Members States in Asset Recovery and Cyber Crime. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Local conversations around cyber security have increased over the last few weeks. Recently, Belize Electricity Limited announced that hackers got into its system and leaked three hundred and fifty gigabytes of customer s’ data to the dark web. On Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs, in collaboration with the CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime & Security began a two-day Cyber Security Sensitization and Training in Belize City. Kevin Arthurs, the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, addressed the gathering at the opening ceremony.
Kevin Arthurs
Kevin Arthurs, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Home Affairs
“Is this really happening, what does it mean for me and what are they doing about it? These must have been the questions going through the minds of the attentive Belizeans looking at the news item read like the character list from an end of world Marvel Avengers movie. Yes, the news read, Ragner Locker stole Belizean headlines less than forty-eight hours ago. It stole it with the lead story titled “BEL, Victim of Ransomware Cyber Attack”, that cryptic admission coming from a tweet, boasting to have compromised leaked data and information, consisting of confidential transactional information and other network information. The future for us Belizeans became now, it became real.”
C.E.O. Arthurs went on to say that the recent cyber attack on B.E.L. is eye-opening, timely and a personal reality.
Kevin Arthurs
“It is not lost on me and should not be lost on me that this cyber attack directed itself to the core of who we are as a nation, not only did it target the one collective ownership asset that we as Belizeans constitutionally own, but it tried to undermine the very foundation of our interaction with the world and each other. If there is no internet, it might be because there is no electricity. We live on the web.”
The cyber attack on B.E.L also created a reference point for the training on the importance of fostering policies and actions geared at building a more secure cyber ecosystem across the CARICOM region. Earl Harris, the Assistant Director of Strategy Services at CARICOM IMPACS gave an address at the opening ceremony.
Earl Harris
Earl Harris, Asst. Director of Strategic Services, CARICOM IMPACS
“Cyber crime is serious business. It is estimated for 2023 the cost of cyber crime will be somewhere around eight trillion U.S dollars globally. Eight trillion, I didn’t say billion, I didn’t say thousand. In 2021, it was estimated at three trillion. You see it is growing exponentially. As we embrace the new technologies we have to be weary that cyber threats is constant. The hackers are looking for any niche in your armor to slip in and wipe you out, hence the reason for this workshop here this week. We at CARICOM IMPACS have been firmly focused on how our member states can safely take advantage of this new cyber world.”
In Belize, digital transformation can be seen in multiple forms, including the emergence of online banking, digital wallets and e-governance, to name a few. Countries across the region are moving along a similar path. Harris contended that as these digital changes come into effect, there must be trust and confidence among users.
Earl Harris
“We can all agree that in order to be successful in prosecution there must be laws. There are glaring gaps in our national and regional cyber security posture. We are finding out daily that we are vulnerable to cyber intrusions such as zero day attacks and a myriad of advanced persistent threats.”
Kevin Arthurs
“Allow me to thank our CARICOM IMPACS partners for organizing this forum and their continuous support in supporting Belize and by extension all CARICOM states to foster policies and actions geared at building a more secure cyber ecosystem.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
