The infrastructure sectors that are considered essential and critical to any society are increasingly under threat, such as through cyberattacks, disasters and even physical attacks. In the Caribbean region and based on recent occurrences, there is great concern that these essential sectors may not have the means to withstand or efficiently recover from cyberattacks and other threats.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In our February 2023 Community Chat<\/a>, one of the topics discussed was the challenge critical, but under-resourced, sectors experienced with respect to cyber security. As was noted during the conversation, the impetus for the topic was the cyber-attack at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital<\/a> (QEH) in Barbados, which occurred in December, and more recently, the breach that occurred at the Southeast Regional Health Authority<\/a> (SERHA) in Jamaica. However, these are incidents that made the news. It is likely that many more organisations and arms of government that manage or deliver critical services have experienced a cyberattack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To a considerable degree, the sectors that are considered critical are likely to vary from country to country, based on how developed the sector is and by extension, the country. However, at its basic, the list is likely to include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These services and sectors could be considered essential for the functioning of our societies, as their absence or incapacity would have a debilitating impact on our collective well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, with the exception of telecommunications and IT\/ICT and electricity, which in the Caribbean are often privatised or privately owned, the other sectors and services tend to be government owned and operated. Invariably, these sectors are underfunded, resulting in less-than-optimal services being delivered to citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In managing critical infrastructure and delivering critical services to citizens the security of those sectors is becoming increasingly crucial. Over the years, cyberattacks on critical services, especially the electric grid, such as at the Jamaica Public Service<\/a>, have become more common. However, hospitals and healthcare facilities, such as QEH, SERHA, and the Hospital for Sick Children<\/a> in Toronto, Canada, are just a few of the recent casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In light of the financial and other resource constraints that critical infrastructure sectors face in the Caribbean region, their security should not be left to luck and chance. As was noted in an article published last week in Barbados, and nearly two months since the breach at QEH, the institution had not fully recovered<\/a>. Although our Community Chat panellists posited that should a critical sector come under attack, governments will find the resources to address and remedy the issue, such situations are fraught with several challenges. Some of the issues that would need to be addressed include: whether to pay the ransom if demanded, improving the security of the associated systems and networks, ensuring the integrity of the data should the systems be restored, and navigating the requirements regarding individuals\u2019 personal information, cognisant of the emerging data privacy and data protection regimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Images credit: Gerd Altmann (Pixabay<\/a>); MELANIO SALOME JR. PEC (Pexels<\/a>); Erich Westendarp (Pixabay<\/a>); Alina Kuptsova (Pixabay<\/a>) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n