GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Nationwide Knowledge Administration Authority (NDMA) says regardless of claims of a profitable spear-phishing marketing campaign that sought to compromise delicate authorities knowledge, investigations have proven that this has not been the case.
NDMA stated its Cybersecurity Division has discovered no proof to help the allegation made on October 5 this 12 months. It stated that it had deployed its cybersecurity analysts and specialists to evaluate these claims, and investigations reveal that the cybersecurity agency exaggerated the risk in its “exposé.”
NDMA basic supervisor Christopher Deen reiterated that cybersecurity issues and potential threats to Guyana’s digital infrastructure are taken very critically.
“Now we have launched intensive investigations each out and in of the federal government’s community to find out the validity of this report. Based mostly on presently out there info, a spear-phishing try was made towards a Authorities Ministry.
“The safety programs employed intercepted this try and nullified its results. I take this chance to notice that domestically, NDMA has detected and mitigated some 442 malware assaults at authorities businesses within the first quarter of 2023,” Deen stated.
However NDMA stated that at the same time as investigations proceed, it has contacted the cybersecurity agency who made the claims to collect further info, confirm the information shared, and verify the agency’s supply, including “thus far, NDMA continues to be awaiting the cybersecurity agency’s response.”
It stated additional there are additionally questions concerning the un-named cybersecurity firm’s motivations and ethics.
“Cybersecurity professionals can entry delicate info, together with private and proprietary info. Disclosing delicate info with out stakeholder session might be detrimental. So how is the cybersecurity agency benefitting from publishing and making claims based mostly on “medium confidence” and linking this spear-phishing marketing campaign to different native occasions with out evidence-based proof?
“The singling-out of this explicit incident additionally raises questions, as disclosing consumer-specific info with out the client’s express permission just isn’t typical apply. We’ll proceed contacting the cybersecurity agency for in-depth consultations,” NDMA added.
NDMA stated it stays resolute in its mandate to advertise secure cybersecurity practices inside authorities ministries and businesses.
“In line with worldwide finest practices, NDMA operates a 24/7 safety operations middle which gives 24-hour technical help on cybersecurity points to authorities businesses; and the Guyana Nationwide Laptop Incident Response Crew (CIRT) serves as a helpful useful resource for risk response and incident dealing with. Ongoing cybersecurity consciousness coaching initiatives and applications complement NDMA’s efforts.”
NDMA stated that Guyana is becoming a member of the worldwide neighborhood in commemorating Cybersecurity Consciousness and can facilitate a number of coaching classes nationwide. “These coaching initiatives are set to offer invaluable info on secure cyber safety practices in addition to establish and reply to cyber safety threats,” it added.
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