DAYS after a Fortinet Global Threat Landscape report indicated that Jamaica recorded more than 34 million cyberattack attempts in the first six months of 2025, director of the country’s Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) Division Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Godphey Sterling has announced a five-year project aimed at strengthening Jamaica’s cybersecurity capacity.

Speaking at a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think tank, Sterling said the initiative involves the creation of a National Cyber Authority, which will develop national cybersecurity policies, monitor cyber threats, provide skills training, and develop human capital.

“This is going to start in earnest about April in the new financial year. CIRT has been building capacity in a very slow but steady way over the years. This initiative will accelerate Jamaica’s efforts to prepare for growing cyber challenges,” said Sterling.

He noted that a significant component of the programme will focus on education and skills training across all levels of the learning system.

At the primary level, a new cybersecurity curriculum will be developed, with teachers receiving training to deliver the material.

For the secondary level, cybersecurity content will be incorporated into the existing information technology curriculum, ensuring that students develop awareness and interest before reaching higher education.

Meanwhile, at the university level, the programme will conduct a desk review of all currently accredited cybersecurity programmes.

“Where there are gaps in the delivery of the practical aspects of these courses, we’re going to also work with them to ensure that they have the equipment, the setup, and the ability to deliver hands-on training,” added Sterling.

He said although the project will officially launch in April, preparations are already underway, ensuring that the country can build the expertise and institutional frameworks needed to safeguard its digital future.

In its report Fortinet encouraged Jamaica organisations to adopt proactive strategies, including creating tailored play books for incident response, using deception technologies to identify unusual movement in networks and integrating real-time threat intelligence into their monitoring tools.

According to Fortinet, training staff to recognise phishing attempts, especially AI-generated ones, along with running practice exercises to test readiness, is also key to building resilience.

“As threat actors become faster, stealthier and more resourceful, defending Jamaica’s critical infrastructure requires more than traditional security measures. It demands situational awareness, active threat hunting and the operational maturity to act on intelligence, not just collect it,” said Derek Manky, chief security strategist at Fortinet.

“You don’t win by reacting. You win by preparing — strategically, systematically and ahead of the next attack,” added Manky.

In the meantime, Trevor Forrest, a local computer expert, called on the Government to seriously consider creating a national cybersecurity task force.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) already has a cybercrime unit which investigates certain cases; however, the task force being proposed by Forrest, would provide legislative advice, guidance, strategy and policy at a national level where cybersecurity is concerned.

But in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Forrest said the task force would comprise representatives from the security forces, cybersecurity experts, private sector, and academia.

“There needs to be a task force that is dedicated to cybersecurity at a national level to guide policy, regulations and provide advice. It is something that is a critical aspect of a functioning economy because the damage that a cyberattack can do economically is immeasurable. I think it is something the people at the highest level need to give serious consideration to,” added Forrest.