The Bahamas is “not doing that well” in protecting its digital infrastructure from cybersecurity threats, the government’s lead on digitization efforts and Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson said recently, adding that the country is currently undergoing a national assessment of its system risk by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Thompson, who made the comment while speaking at Cable Bahamas’ virtual business solutions seminar last week, said while the country’s cybersecurity needs bolstering, the government is working to mitigate any threats.
“The more active you become with the computer, internet, digitization, the more vulnerable you really become when it comes to cyber attacks and the government itself has experienced this,” said Thompson.
“You’ve seen issues that we’ve had at the registrar general’s office, ZNS, even the public treasury and so we’ve recognized that you have to do both at the same time. You have to move ahead with your digital transformation, but at the same time, you must ensure that your cybersecurity is also enhanced at the same time.
“So, one of the things that we have done is we have gotten in to a partnership with the ITU, which is the United Nations’ technology arm. They actually are the ones who go from country to country and assess how countries are doing with respect to cybersecurity and admittedly, we are not doing that well at present, but we are focused on ensuring that we are beefing up our cybersecurity.”
Thompson explained that the ITU is assessing the government and private sector’s risk of cyber attacks, while also helping the country to develop a cyber security emergency response team (CERT).
He said the ITU will also assist the country in drafting a national policy and strategy on how to enhance cybersecurity and develop the legislation necessary to punish those who commit cyber crimes against this country.
“Within the next 12 months, that CERT will be completed,” Thompson said. “We have already started recruiting persons to fill these spots.”
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