KINGSTON, Jamaica — Managing Director of FLOW Jamaica, Stephen Price, has called for the implementation of cybersecurity legislation similar to the United States’ Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to push businesses to invest in robust cybersecurity practices.

 “Put in context, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act implemented sweeping, long term changes to mandate the requirements for reliability and usefulness of financial reporting,” stated Stephen Price, while speaking on the second day of the JSE Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference.

Price explained that it was designed to renew investor trust and understanding of public corporation financial reporting after the collapse of corporate giants and the demise of one of the United States’ largest corporate entities.

 “We are currently at a similar point of collapse of public trust in large international corporations due to increased cyber-attacks; a situation which redounds to consumers who are now more vulnerable to identity theft and the whims of cybercriminals. Indeed, it may be time for the cybersecurity version of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to be implemented, he continued.

 Price was also quick to highlight that curbing cybercrime was not simply dependent on the implementation of new legislation but had to be supported by the relevant people and technology controls.

 In 2017, the most common password hacked was “123456”, followed closely by the word, “Password”. These facts speak to a culture of “security through obscurity” where cybercrime is not taken seriously.

 “The challenge before us is to implement policies in our businesses and personal environments to reduce our vulnerabilities whilst partnering with trusted cybersecurity providers and adhering to cyber protection legislation” stated Price.

He encouraged businesses to develop cybersecurity policies, educate employees on basic cybersecurity principles and implement safeguards to limit employee access to critical data systems and the download of unauthorised software.

For its part, FLOW said it is working with young computer scientists at the University of Technology and the University of the West Indies to establish Jamaica as a centre of innovation in our region for cyber awareness and prevention. As part of that project, the company recently reviewed an algorithm developed by 2nd and 3rd year students at the University of Technology to deploy cyber security via honeypots, which has now been recognised in the United States.