MINISTER of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley says that the process of reviewing the Cybercrimes Act will commence this year.

Taking note of the resurgence of interest in the interpretation of the Act, despite a number of amendments in 2015, Dr Wheatley told the House of Representatives on Tuesday that he had detected “renewed interest and outcry”, as it relates to how various sections of the law are interpreted and enforced.

In February, Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifford Chambers, who heads the Cybercrimes Unit, revealed that investigators were probing 25 cases in which persons had complained that false information was published about them on social media.

He pointed out that persons found guilty in the High Court could be convicted to a maximum fine of $4 million and/or four years in imprisonment at hard labour, or a maximum of seven years at hard labour.

A 35-year-old woman was charged recently under the Cybercrimes Act for allegedly posting pictures on social media of her ex-boyfriend, saying he was wanted for murder, assault and rape. The Ministry of National Security said that police investigations revealed that the information was false, malicious and could amount to malicious communication under the Cybercrime legislation.

“In keeping with our original stance that the law, as it was passed, required further enhancements, I will be beginning the process of review of this piece of legislation during this financial year (2017/18),” Dr Wheatley said as he spoke in the sectoral debate in the House.

“Cyber security continues to be an area of primary importance to me and to the ministry. Last year, I issued instructions to conduct, for the first time, a security audit of all Government websites and online services,” Wheatley said.

“Following the security audit of Government websites, completed by eGov, with support from the Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT), the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force, a web security policy for the Government is in the process of being developed, and will be complete within the next six months,” he said.

He noted that, in the meantime, efforts are being made to address vulnerabilities that were identified from the audit as immediate threats.

He also stated that an immediate measure to be introduced this year is the adoption of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates or HTTPS to secure all Government of Jamaica websites, for the protection of all users of its web services.

He said that guidelines for the introduction of secure web access, via Secure HTTP (https) will be issued for all ministries, departments and agencies of Government this month, with a mandate for full implementation by the end of the 2017/18 financial year.

He paid tribute to the stellar work being done by the Cyber Incident Response Team, headed by Dr Moniphia Hewling.

“Since its launch, the Jamaica CIRT has been promoting best practices to raise awareness of the risks that exist with use of technological devices as well as to help citizens guard against unsafe cyber practices,” Wheatley said.