In the first instalment in our Expert Insights series on cyber threats and security for 2025, and one again with Sean Slattery of Caribbean Solutions Lab, he discusses, among other things: the changes in the threat landscape that occurred in 2024; the changing threat and impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation in the security space; the security-related challenges as organisations adopt a cloud-first posture; key challenges being experienced by security professionals; and three things organisations should be doing in 2025 to improve their network/IT security.

 

This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music!!

Over the past year, there seems to have been more reporting in the public domain of cyber incidents and efforts to increase awareness of the threat landscape and the fact that Caribbean organisations are vulnerable.

This podcast episode is the first update of 2025 in our longstanding Expert Insight series on cyber threats and security. As has been the practice, we invite security experts to share their views and knowledge – their insights – on network intrusion and security, generally and in the Caribbean region. Throughout this year, will continue to offer a broad range of views and perspectives from security experts on the state of cyber threats and security in the Caribbean region and further afield.

 

Introducing our guest

Sean Slattery

Sean Slattery is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Caribbean Solutions Lab (CSL), a cybersecurity service provider, based in the Cayman Islands. He has deep experience in IT, having started with a background in Computer Science, and working his way across a broad range of IT roles.

Sean has spent over fifteen years focusing primarily on cybersecurity. His specialities include firewall enterprise; web gateway; e-policy orchestration; enterprise mobility management; and application control.

Established in 2007, CSL has clients throughout the Caribbean region and in North America and offers comprehensive IT security, training and professional services.

 

Insights into our conversation

It has been about eight since we have been engaging Sean on cyber threats and security, and so we have established a great thread of continuity over the years. In this conversation, it seems the threat landscape has changed over the past year. Although phishing and ransomware are still occurring, there has been a noticeable uptick in identity theft and what appears to be nationally sanctioned attacks.  

We also had an eye-opening discussion on how AI and automation are being and can be used by threat actors, which in turn makes security and vigilance even more challenging. We also had to acknowledge the considerable pressure security professionals are experiencing to keep up in this highly dynamic field whilst also bearing the brunt of the responsibility and, more so, the blame should an organisation experience a cyber breach or incident.

Below are several of the questions posed to Sean during our conversation.

  1. To start, can you give us a quick recap of what has been going on in the Caribbean region, with regard to cybersecurity threats and incidents?
  2. With both cyber criminals and cybersecurity professionals relying on AI, there seems to be some debate about whether AI has helped or hurt cybersecurity efforts. What are your thoughts?
  3. With organisations becoming more “cloud first”, there seems to be concerns that cloud security has not been keeping up. What have you been observing in the Caribbean and further afield?
  4. A perennial challenge we have discussed in the past is the supply-demand imbalance in cybersecurity expertise, but there seem to be growing reports of burnout and the extreme pressure among security professionals. Are you seeing evidence of this in your circle?
  5. Do you have any insight into the cost or loss or impact to Caribbean organisations?
  6. With many Caribbean countries in the process of rolling out digital IDs, with many of them planning to integrate biometrics. But, what do you think about the conversations we should be having on trust (versus trustless) systems?
  7. After all of what we have discussed, are there any new and emerging threats of which we should be more aware?
  8. What might be three (3) key things organisations should be doing in 2025 to improve their network/IT security?

 

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.

Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode, do get in touch.

Let’s make it happen!

 

Select links

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

 

 

Images credit:  S Slattery; Freepik; Elchinator (Pixabay); Freepik

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez