Public and private sector players are being encouraged to better safeguard their networks and systems against increasing threats from international cybercriminals.
C&W Business, the business-to-business arm of C&W Communications, will host two online forums this month aimed at helping governments, large businesses and individual entrepreneurs better protect their organisations and companies from online threats.
The webinars will feature controversial hacker-turned-computer security specialist Hector Monsegur – the man behind the Anonymous/LulzSec hacker collectives, as well as informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“Cybersecurity involves preventing, detecting, and responding to cyberattacks that can have wide-ranging effects on individuals, organisations, local communities, and entire countries. As the Caribbean’s leading service provider, we see it as our responsibility to inform, advise and educate about the varied elements of online security,” said Nicolas Collette, Vice President, B2B, C&W Communications.
“Hector once ruled the ‘hacktivist’ scene breaching security systems of major corporations and governments around the globe, and he will share the mindset of a hacker and how organizations can proactively protect themselves. He will also present the inside secrets of how hackers choose their targets, why hacking appeals to people, how hacking tools work, and how you can protect yourself and loved ones from vulnerability.”
Monsegur, also known by the online pseudonym Sabu, became an informant for the FBI after facing a sentence of 124 years in prison for his role in the LulzSec hacker collective intervening in the affairs of organisations such as News Corporation, Stratfor, UK and American law enforcement bodies and the Irish political party, Fine Gael.
Monsegur now works as an ethical hacker conducting penetration tests – authorized simulated cyberattacks on computer systems performed to evaluate the security of the system.
“Global cyber-attacks increased by 32% in 2022 when compared to 2021, with an all-time high being recorded in the second quarter of this year. The Caribbean and Latin America has also seen the largest increase in attacks, with research suggesting one out of twenty-three organisations impacted weekly – a 43% increase when compared to 2021,” added Collette.
“The cybercriminals are not slowing down and we must be proactive in our approach to safeguarding our networks to withstand any eventuality. With the right technologies in place, most attacks, even the most advanced ones, can be prevented and we are happy to be providing this timely forum for the exchange of knowledge and best practices in reducing and preventing cybercrime in our region.”
SOURCE: C&W Communications. Headline photo courtesy Clint Patterson (Unsplash.com)
