{"id":73141,"date":"2015-02-11T08:11:23","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T13:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=73141"},"modified":"2017-04-07T20:19:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T01:19:16","slug":"quick-look-jamaicas-cybersecurity-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2015\/02\/quick-look-jamaicas-cybersecurity-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"A quick look: Jamaica\u2019s new cybersecurity strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A brief examination of Jamaica\u2019s new National Cyber Security Strategy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the past 3 years or so, the Government of Jamaica has been embarrassed by a number of cybersecurity breaches that have occurred across its ministries, departments and agencies, which ranged from simple website defacement, to the theft of data from key institutions. Though there had been some discussion about cybercrime\/cybersecurity and the need for improved systems, those incidents were likely to have the effect of galvanising the Government to move from idle talk to action.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, one of those outputs, a National Cyber Security Strategy, was made publicly available. The strategy is the culmination of a number of activities that were charged by the National Cyber Security Task Force established by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining. The launch of a Cyber Incident Response Team is being eagerly awaited, and (hopefully) should be realised soon.<\/p>\n

However, Jamaica\u2019s new cyber security strategy does signal a new and important development in efforts to address and better manage Jamaica\u2019s cyber landscape. Below is a synopsis of the strategy, and some early thoughts on its contents.<\/p>\n

The strategy in a nutshell<\/h3>\n

Cybercrimes and cyber incidents in Jamaica have been increasing. In 2011, there were 19 reported cybercrimes and 1,432 cyber incidents, whilst in 2012, those figures jumped to 43 and 2,438, respectively (Source: Government of Jamaica<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The implementation of the strategy should be guided by the following six principles: leadership; shared responsibility; protection of fundamental rights and freedom; risk management; innovation and business development; sustainable resources. These principles, though self-explanatory, appear to aim to ensure that the Government provides leadership, and creates an enabling environment to address cybersecurity whilst balancing the needs of citizens and the business community.<\/p>\n

To that end, the Government\u2019s cybersecurity framework<\/a> comprises the following four key areas and the accompanying strategic objectives<\/p>\n

1. Technical measures<\/strong>, such as ensuring that<\/p>\n