This is a good assessment Michele and your answer is accurate. To have your network hacked leads to some level of embarrassment and as Neil pointed out there may be financial implications and the organisation’s reputation can also take a hit. Therefore, only when there is disruption to the extent that customers are adversely affected then organisations are prompted to make these public announcements. In many countries, however, hacking is a criminal offence punishable by law. A network intrusion, once detected, should therefore lead to criminal investigations which are more public. The point here is that this will serve to further verify that a hacking incident did take place and outline specifically what was stolen or unlawfully accessed in very precise terms.

One of my greater concerns is that so much of the legislative responses to cybercrime are being undertaken in silos. I think that CARICOM should seeks to develop ‘acceptable behaviors or norms’ for Internet activity. These norms should be aligned with an internationally and more widely acceptable set of ‘acceptable norms’. And any individuals or persons acting outside of these norms should be subject to harmonized legal response. So in essence, all the countries in the region should be working on national and regional legislation that looks, sound and feels the same way. This would solve any issues with cross-border fragmentation, which could result in safe havens for cyber-criminals (e.g. someone in St. Kitts compromises a web server in Barbados, but while the act is a felony in Barbados with a penalty of 5-10 years, the laws in St. Kitts are ambiguous or non-existent).

A forum like this will play an important role in sensitizing persons about such consequences but perhaps the powers that be can do with a little push in the right direction by the presentation of a paper or organized discussion on the effects/consequences of cybercrime on developing countries or small caribbean states or some such thing. Congratulations to ICT Pulse and its innovators this is a much needed resource and thanks to Mr. Neil Harper for sharing his knowledge and experience.

Hi Gerald,

Difficult question..

In the absence of CERTs (Computer Emergency Response Teams) either locally or regionally, I think there might be some difficulty in trying to independently verify reports of hacking. (For some insight into CERTs see – http://www.ict-pulse.com/?p=2456).

My (limited) observation has been that the hackers typically are the ones who reveal (first) that they have breached a particular network, and sometimes publish some or all of the data that was captured – which is similar to what obtained in the Cyber War News report. Other news/reporting agencies and blogs may pick up the story, but often the sources are usually the same, and the language tends to be somewhat guarded – using words like “allegedly”, “reportedly”, etc.

Moreover, it is usually with great reluctance that an organization will admit that it has suffered an intrusion. Sometimes, that admission is made only because the hackers publicly announced the breach, which in turn forced the company to look for it, and report back their findings.

This is my two cents… Hopefully someone else will offer further insight…

Thanks Kamutula!

Sure, whenever you are ready…