Whether we fully appreciate it or not, the Caribbean region – its citizens and societies – continue to be vulnerable to a broad range of information security threats and breaches. Continuing with our Expert insight series, we discuss with David Gittens, of the Barbados Chapter of the  Information Systems Security Association, the current threat landscape, tips to improve information security in organisations, and what we can expect in 2020..

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes, Google Play Music and on Stitcher!

If you have been tracking the news, on a regular basis, there are news reports on either the need for greater collaboration across the Caribbean region with respect to cybersecurity, or  that a cybersecurity workshop, seminar or meeting has been held. As a result, it may appear that there are a lot of activities towards improving the state of cyber- and information security across the region; but we ought to ask ourselves whether or not, or the extent to which all of those efforts are effective.

We are continuing with our expert insights series on cyberthreats and security in the Caribbean region, in which we speak to security personnel based in the region on trends and new developments in the IT/cybersecurity space, and seek advice on how individuals and organisations can improve the security of their equipment and information. Moreover, as 2019 draws to a close, we thought it opportune, once again, to highlight cybersecurity: what developments might have occurred in the region this year, and what we can expect in 2020.

Our guest today is not a stranger to the podcast. Formerly the President of the Barbados Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), when we spoke to him last year, David Gittens is now the organisation’s Education and Events Director. David has nearly 30 years’ experience in the tech industry, and his areas of focus include Electronic Banking Security; Information Security Frameworks; Disaster Recovery; Vulnerability Scanning, and Security Policies and Procedures.

In our previous interview with David, we spent some time explaining the importance of information security. For this session, the discussion was a bit broader – though still focussing on information security. Areas covered included the following:

  1. The current state of cybersecurity and cybercrime in Barbados, and the wider Caribbean, and the types of incidents that have been the most prevalent
  2. Whether or not, or the extent to which the threat landscape changed over the years
  3. Advice to organisations on how they might be able to limit the security risk posed through their employees
  4. Whether people’s attitude and behaviour towards security has changed
  5. An update on the developments in Barbados with respect to privacy and data protection
  6. Security issues in Barbados that remain unaddressed, although the country seems to be trying to aggressively leverage technology
  7. What we are likely to see in the security landscape in 2020
  8. Advice on where organisations should be put their security dollars going forward.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

 

Image credits:  Gerd Altmann (Pixabay);  D Gittens 

Music credit:  Ray Holman 

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