MONTEGO BAY, St James — On the same day that the Opposition sacked its caretaker candidate Dennis Meadows for his glorification of lottery scamming, Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has vowed that the Government will not relent in its fight against cybercrime.

It is something, he noted, which creates violence and mayhem in addition to stifling the country’s prospects of attracting foreign investments and negatively impacts the local economy.

“There is no room for accommodation; there is no room for compromise. In addition to the murder of our citizens and the extortion of honest people in North America, it damages the economic prospect of the country. If your cyberspace is not defended effectively with the appropriate responses, we lose opportunities because simply there are those who will not want to base their business in Jamaica and that’s where it is incalculable,” Dr Chang said in an apparent reference to lottery scamming.

“While our law enforcement entities continue to devise strategies to combat conventional crimes, the cyber-based criminal landscape has fast evolved and presents a clear and present threat to Jamaican business owners and operators and to government systems. To that extent, we have taken some steps to improve capacity, especially in cyber defence. We have criminal organisers who gain funds illegitimately, they buy guns and they kill each other and they kill citizens. Homicide is one major problem — but they are stealing money from retired people in United States, sometimes the entire pension fund and move it to Jamaica. It has a lot of implications but we are keen on stopping them,” he added.

Dr Chang was speaking at the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) President’s Breakfast Forum at the Grand a View Event Place in Montego Bay. The event was held under the theme ‘Security: Looking at All Angles’.

He cited data from a Cybersecurity Ventures report which predicted that the global annual cost of cybercrime is to reach US$9.5 trillion in 2024.

“Compounding this is the rising cost of damages resulting from cybercrime, which is expected to reach US$10.5 trillion by 2025,” he said.

The security minister also expressed concern that cybercrimes present new challenges “that policymakers, law enforcement, and business operators must partner to contend with”.

“Among the suite of solutions that are being spearheaded by the Government of Jamaica is the strengthening of our region’s cybersecurity capacity and resilience. It was on this basis that Jamaica hosted the inaugural Caribbean Cybersecurity Skills Symposium in 2021 which was the launchpad for the Strategic Cybersecurity Training Needs Assessment. The outcome of this assessment is informing the cybersecurity training and education offering of the Caribbean Institute of Cyber Science, which is being established under the auspices of the Caribbean Military Academy-Jamaica Defence Force,” he said.

He said, too, that minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for skills and digital transformation, Senator Dana Morris Dixon, with her expertise, is providing guidance and support to cybersecurity development, “to ensure that we have the requisite skills and the agility to respond and take advantage of the rapidly changing digital environment of the fourth industrial revolution”.

Dr Chang also told the forum that the Ministry of National Security, through its various specialised agencies, such as the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), is expanding its cyber-defence capabilities.

“We have taken a multifaceted and multi-tiered approach to improving Jamaica’s cyber-defence capabilities and cyber-threat response,” the security minister told the global services stakeholders.

“We are positioning Jamaica to respond swiftly and effectively to cyber-threats so that international business partners, such as our Global Service providers represented here this morning, can feel confident that your investments in Jamaica are being protected. Cyber-defence is at the heart of our national development efforts,” he added.

Dr Chang, who is also deputy prime minister of Jamaica, noted that global services’ heavy reliance on technology solutions brings into sharp focus the importance of data protection. He referenced the passing of Jamaica’s Data Protection Act in 2020 and it coming into effect on December 1, 2023.

“This is undoubtedly one of the most contemporary pieces of legislation that we have. It provides a necessary safeguard and operating framework for handling the personal information of our people. At the outset, companies such as those represented here this morning would have had to make some adjustments in how you collect, store, manage, disclose, and dispose of personal information,” Dr Chang said.

“I am confident that with time, this new way of treating personal information will become second nature across the various business sectors and industries. As we position Jamaica and our various business sectors for the future, we must be mindful of the ever-evolving technology landscape and its innate challenges and opportunities,” he added.