PHILIPSBURG – Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten (BTP) represented by Mr. de Weever and Mr. Wijngaarde and accompanied by their Legal Advisor, participated in the first Caribbean Cyber Crime Conference Hosted by the Attorney General’s office, the RST – Special Police Taskforce and DataExpert.
During the conference a wide variety of international speakers and industry experts gave lectures on the different forms of cyber-crime. They outlined the possible impact these crimes can have on individuals, businesses, and countries, and also demonstrated the technology that can be used to mitigate and solve cyber threats and attacks.
Cyber-crime is a fast-growing area of crime whereby criminals conduct illegal activities by utilizing ICT networks or the internet. Common types of cyber-crime include hacking, online scams, identity theft, and attacks on computer systems. Cyber-crime affects more than only the financial integrity of victims. There are many other damaging consequences associated with Internet crime.
Understanding the effects of cyber-crime is an important first step in comprehending the necessity of security measures on computer networks. This is the reason why BTP is directly involved in this important matter, and will be collaborating with different stakeholders to provide assistance in implementing policies that can prevent cyber-crime and safeguarding Telecom infrastructures.
Therefore one of the top priorities of BTP is to establish a national Cyber Emergency Response Team (CERT). The CERT will be tasked with the prevention of cyber-related incidents, limiting the damages in case they occur, collect useful data, do forensic analysis, and conduct network penetration tests to evaluate the security of an ICT infrastructure. Another important task of the CERT is to create awareness as it relates to Cyber Security.
BTP would like to remind the general public that cyber-crime, just like any other crime, should always be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. Only by reporting cyber-crime, investigative procedures can be initiated. This is crucial in bringing perpetrators to justice and keeping the internet safe.
