Speakers at the Security BSides Cayman Islands Conference warned the islands must remain vigilant against online threats.
Every week, Caymanians are losing money through online scams. That was the stark message from international cybersecurity experts at a leading conference held 17-19 Sept. at Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa.
“Caymankind is a great thing, but it really doesn’t work online,” said John Watson, head of cybercrime investigation at the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. “When you’re on the internet, you should trust nothing and verify everything.”
Caymanians might think that cybercrime is just an issue for large corporations with millions of dollars in their bank accounts, but Watson warned that that it is mostly individuals – not companies – that are the victims of cybercrime.
Watson said that typical scams seen on the islands include social media adverts falsely using the photo of a well-known public figure, such as a former premier, to convince islanders to buy into fake cryptocurrency schemes.
“The high cost of living on the islands is probably a factor as people are looking for get-rich-quick schemes,” he said.
And the problem is only going to get worse. With total losses running to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, the islands are becoming a target for global cybercriminals, said Watson. “These criminals speak to each other on forums and every time a Caymanian gives money it encourages more attacks.”
During the three-day event, a mix of local and international experts shared different perspectives on cybercrime. But one thing that all agreed upon is that complacency is the biggest danger.
RJ Sudlow, cybersecurity lead for Caymanian firm Ember Lake and one of the conference directors, said that sometimes even sophisticated corporations can become complacent.
“While Ember Lake performs testing for companies throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, we’ve seen companies do a lot of the right things and still face complex threats,” said Sudlow. “Even though they’re doing the right things, there’s a need to not rest on their laurels because of how quickly the bad guys are evolving.”
There are lots of simple things that individuals and companies can do to shore up their cyber defences, said John Hammond, a cybersecurity expert from Huntress. “A lot of media attention goes to the most dramatic cybersecurity threats – like state-sponsored hacking groups. But really, we should all be focusing on the silly, simple things like installing the latest security updates, having strong passwords and using two-factor authentication.”
Hammond, who is a globally-recognised cybersecurity star with more than 2 million YouTube followers, also had some advice for young Caymanians looking to enter the cybersecurity industry.
“It’s all about getting keyboard time when you’re young. You need to be a solid coder. On the academic side you should probably major in computer sciences with a minor in cybersecurity,” he said.
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