BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin delivered opening remarks at the launch of the national Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) in The Bahamas, alongside Senator The Honourable James Kwasi Thompson, Minister of State for Finance of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and Madame Elise Delancy, Permanent Secretary, Department of Transformation and Digitization.
The launch comes as a result of the cooperative effort between The Government of The Bahamas and ITU to build Bahamian cybersecurity capacity, as the Government has partnered with ITU for technical support to assist in establishing a National Computer Incident Response Team – or CIRT – under the umbrella of its National Cybersecurity Project.
While describing the critical importance and transformational power of digital technologies, Ms Bogdan-Martin remarked that as archipelagic nation, ''The Bahamas understands fully the importance of connectivity to achieve and promote social development.'' She stated she was encouraged to see that ''The Bahamas has taken the commendable and concrete step of adding ICT as a third pillar of its internationally acclaimed economic framework, alongside tourism and banking.''
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of connectivity and the need for resilient digital infrastructures. However, efforts to expand access to the internet and mobile technologies are inevitably accompanied by significant exposure to potential digital threats, vulnerabilities, and risks. Ms Bogdan-Martin pointed out that incidence of cybercrime and cyberattacks has been steadily rising over the years, and noted the Distributed Denial of Service attack on The Bahamas in December 2018 as a case in point.
She said, ''This new CIRT will enable The Bahamas to build local capability to more effectively and rapidly respond to cyber threats, while promoting a national culture of cybersecurity and raising awareness of the risks and consequences of cyberattacks.''
Ms Bogdan-Martin thanked The Bahamas for the trust and confidence placed in ITU as the country's partner in its important and transformational cybersecurity endeavour. She stated that that the CIRT will have a pivotal role to play in supporting the government to address cybersecurity-related issues at the national level, but mentioned that ''no CIRT can work alone— an effective cybersecurity response for The Bahamas will require all stakeholders' participation, well-trained human resources, adequate funding, a sound legal framework, and proactive international collaboration.''
In conclusion, she said ''I believe that taking this important step and working with us to establish your national CIRT will put the Bahamas firmly on the road to reaping the benefits of its national development vision, while protecting the digital resources that are so vital for your country's growth, prosperity and resilience.''
