Guyana moves to tackle Cyber Crime

Aug 13, 2015 News

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Survey shows  “While investigations have been carried out with some success, prosecutors in the judiciary are inadequately trained to handle electronic evidence….legislative gaps are an additional roadblock…Guyana has some procedural law to deal with computer evidence but lacks substantive cyber crime laws.”

In an era where almost every aspect of daily life is centred on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), the need to build capacity to detect, prevent and fight cyber crime in Guyana has been further underscored, with stakeholders coming together yesterday to come up with strategies.
And with government agencies, businesses and financial institutions virtually dependent on the internet, Guyana like most other countries of the world is vulnerable to hackers, both locally and internationally, and such a vital tool deserves attention and protection.
It is with this in mind that the Computer Incidents Response Team-Guyana (CIRT-GY) in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, organized a workshop at the Pegasus Hotel to address this pressing issue.
The workshop was sponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS).
Delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan acknowledged that the world has become so immersed in ICT that activities in cyberspace have become inseparable from activities involving education, government, business and even security and the military.
According to Ramjattan, this greater adoption of ICT by the government means more efficient service for citizens and the administration, with a concomitant yield of an improvement in the quality of life of Guyanese.
But in order to support citizens’ participation in the use of online services, the Minister said that it is essential to build trust and confidence in government information systems as well as the ICT infrastructure.
To this end, Ramjattan emphasized that there is need to develop a comprehensive strategy, since in the absence of cyber security, the ICT infrastructure could be compromised by unintentional human error, malicious actors or by national disasters.
To combat this, Guyana initially established a National Computer Incidents Response (CIRT-GY) team in August 2013, to respond to cyber security-related incidents.
The unit, which is presently headed by Sandra Khan, lends technical assistance, sends advisories and alerts regarding cyber attacks and provides literature and tips on cyber security.
It also coordinates with organizations such as the OAS and other international CIRTs to build technical capacity and share best practices and information, and is beginning to establish lines of communication with the Private Sector.
However, its scope is limited by the absence of a National Cyber Security Strategy or Cyber Defence Policy and a lack of awareness of Cyber Security Issues in government.
Minister Ramjattan cited a tripartite survey done by the Inter-American Development Bank, Oxford University and the OAS in Guyana, which found that since 2013, Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean saw an increase in cyber attacks by malicious actors.
In 2011 hackers went to work on many local websites.
According to CIRT-GY head Khan, apart from several website defacements, there have been reports of businessmen encountering problems as well as attacks against top government officials.
But despite this, Guyana may be badly lacking in terms of detection and investigation of cyber crime, since presently only the Criminal Investigations Department of the Guyana Police Force is responsible for investigating such activities.
Quoting from the report, Ramjattan said, “while investigations have been carried out with some success, prosecutors in the judiciary are inadequately trained to handle electronic evidence…legislative gaps are an additional roadblock…Guyana has some procedural law to deal with computer evidence but lacks substantive cyber crime laws.”
But as opportunities for online banking and other e-commerce grow, local Private Sector entities are starting to prioritize cyber security as a matter of concern.
Consequently stakeholders have begun to invest in cyber security training for their employees, but cyber security awareness generally remains low.
The tri-parte survey showed that while Guyana’s higher education institutions offer a computer science degree, they do not include cyber security topics into its curriculum.
The Public Security Minister made the point that as of today, Guyana has relatively limited financial resources in terms of funding and staffing cyber security initiatives.
“This means a national effort must be properly coordinated to ensure minimal duplication of efforts and an improved national response and readiness,” Ramjattan said.
To this end, he welcomed the announcement by Finance Minister Winston Jordan during last Monday’s National Budget presentation that ICT will be the key enabler of accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness and inclusiveness.
The Finance Minister had stated that as a consequence of the focus being placed on ICT and the achievement of certain objectives in the sector, significant investment in the development of human capacity is required.
OAS Resident Representative in Guyana, Jean Ricot Dormeus in his brief remarks to yesterday’s gathering, which included Chancellor Carl Singh and Minister of State Joseph Harmon, reiterated his organisation’s commitment to helping countries develop strategies to combat cyber crimes.
He said that the OAS has been working with Caribbean states over the past 10 years in this regard.
According to Ambassador Dormeus, combating cyber crime is costing $445M annually and there is a definite need for countries such as Guyana to get on board, since given the nature of the internet, hackers can operate from almost anywhere.

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