With cyber attacks becoming more common in TT, there is a need to urgently strengthen measures to combat the new and evolving trend of criminality.
In an interview with Newsday last week, Shiva Parasram, an enterprise, risk and security consultant with almost a decade of experience with malware and ransomware, said he is noticing an "astounding" increase in local information being sold on the dark web.
This, he said, does not paint an optimistic picture of the country's digital landscape.
"I'm seeing a lot of companies in the Caribbean and Trinidad where you have e-mail addresses and passwords being stolen and published on dark web forums," he said.
"You go on these marketplaces and they have many groups selling information but I've noticed an astounding uptick, and I was just about to go on LinkedIn and make a post out to the public: no matter what company you're from, just let everybody change passwords immediately.
"It's bad, it's pretty bad, and I expect that in the coming weeks, months, 2024 is going to be a pretty terrible year for companies where malware is concerned."
The Office of the Attorney General, TTPost, Courts, the Telecommunications Services of TT (TSTT) and the South West Regional Health Authority were all recent victims of cyber attacks and resulting disruptions. In 2020, the ANSA McAL group was attacked, followed by the Massy Group in 2022.
Newsday asked the police for information on the number of cyber attacks reported to the cyber crime unit and is awaiting the data.
Parasram said these repeated incidents could weaken customer confidence in local businesses. He admitted, like sceptics, that he too does not use his credit card on local-based websites for transactions.
President of the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce Kiran Maharaj also believes these incidents negatively affect customer confidence.
"Because while we're saying to everyone, get on the e-commerce platforms, when these things happen, and you see your credit card statement and you know you didn't make that payment, it will shake us a bit," she told Newsday on Monday morning.
She said the chamber was "concerned" about the prevalence of these attacks and was especially worried about their impact on small and medium enterprises which may not be able to protect against the attacks.
Acknowledging it's not an issue unique to TT, she said the silver lining in the recent hacking incidents is that they did not go undetected.
"I don't think we should ignore that fact. The truth is that we have been able to see where they're coming from and that we can actually take some form of action," she said.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet media briefing on Monday afternoon, the Prime Minister acknowledged the recent proliferation of cyber attacks and agreed urgent action is needed. "Especially as we become more and more dependent on the digital age offerings, it is a matter of urgency for us to return to prioritising the legislation that will deal with the environment of cyber-matics, if you may call it that," he said.
"So that c
