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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago
Cybersecurity is about keeping data secure.

But is it also about keeping the platforms local companies use to pay foreign suppliers secure?

Juhel Browne sought the answer to that question from two local cybersecurity companies at the AMCHAM T&T conference in Port of Spain.





Transcript
00:00TV6 News spoke with Michael Ramasar, the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Consultant
00:05of Mayan Industries, a local company which he says provides industrial cyber security.
00:12If for example Powergen had a cyber attack, what could happen? Lights would go out not
00:18only in Port of Spain but the entire island and that will have a cascading effect, right?
00:24No power, no water, no broadband, no internet. So companies are very serious about what their
00:31risks are.
00:32Mayan was one of the cyber security companies at the Amcham TNT HSE Conference at the Hyatt
00:39Regency along with ICONS. TV6 News also spoke with Phil Roy-Phillip, the Business Development
00:45Executive at ICONS.
00:47We have noticed over the last 5, 7, 10 years that it has become a major issue in the Caribbean.
00:57So we as IT experts in the field have repositioned our solutions, our services, all our initiatives
01:10to be able to handle these threats with our clients, right? Regular updates.
01:16They were at the Amcham Conference at a time when many have expressed concerns about the
01:21local foreign exchange market and we wondered if there is any link between the issue of
01:25cyber security and the issue of foreign exchange since many companies in Trinidad and Tobago
01:31have foreign suppliers.
01:33People don't jump on a plane and go pay people cash. It's electronic and you use platforms.
01:38I mean personally as a business you would use your online banking, your business online
01:42banking to pay suppliers and so on. Now that platform could be subject to cyber security
01:50weaknesses, cyber security vulnerabilities and it can be exploited.
01:55Chuck Stewart, the Chief Executive Officer of ICONS is calling for a change in the culture
01:59of cyber security in Trinidad and Tobago.
02:02As a business owner you need to ensure that your staff, your personnel are also educated
02:09in and around what cyber security is about, understanding what threats look like.
02:14Mr. Stewart then spoke about what he faces as a business owner who needs Forex.
02:19Our distributors primarily reside in Miami and so the unavailability of Forex is becoming
02:27an ongoing challenge with regards to us and the sustainability of our business and providing
02:32services to our customers.
02:33He says something needs to be done about the situation.
02:36As a local company I think we ourselves we're trying to think outside of the box, figure
02:42out how we can start generating U.S. without being dependent solely on the bank and local
02:49government. But as I said it's becoming a growing challenge.
02:52The CEO of Mayan Industries made reference to the revenue Trinidad and Tobago earns from
02:57its natural gas sector in particular.
02:59All of our foreign exchange or if not most of it is generated through our very highly
03:05industrialized operations here. Like I said you know the LNG, the gas and everything and
03:13those very industries are the ones that carry the most critical infrastructure and it is
03:21now an easy target for nation state adversaries to compromise these industries.
03:29On November 5th the finance minister said the government will begin talking with local
03:34business chambers and other interest groups to find out if they believe the honor system
03:39in place for foreign exchange in Trinidad and Tobago for the past 25 years should be
03:44replaced with a more regulated system.
03:48Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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