Belize is strengthening its response to cybercrime through a regional workshop bringing together law enforcement representatives from seven countries. The “Successful Strategies and Experiences in Combating Cybercrime” workshop opened in Belize City, hosted by APC Colombia and the Colombian National Police, with a focus on improving the prevention, investigation and response to digital threats. Commissioner of Police Dr. Richard Rosado said the challenges of the digital age demand cooperation across borders and institutions. He stressed that no single police service has all the expertise, technology or resources needed to combat cyber-enabled crime. Compol Rosado and Ministry of Home Affairs Chief Executive Officer Elton Bennett spoke about the importance of strengthening that response.
Dr. A. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police: “We believe that it came at an opportune time because as a region we need to combine our capabilities, we need to strengthen our network so that we can fight the cybercrime on a collaborative front. One of the main things that we’re looking forward to apart from building capacity, sharing best practices is for them to network. Because we believe that cyber crime it must be attacked from a collaborative front. We are hoping at the end of the training or the workshop that they will be able to develop that relationship with their partners from within the Caribbean.”
Elton Bennett, CEO, Ministry of Home Affairs: “This activity fits squarely within our strategic desire of bringing in the different parts of the Government of Belize that are responsible for cyber security, including e-governance and also the National Security Directorate because a lot of what we do here in Belize are intertwined in an effort to produce the best outcome when it comes to cyber security. So we have the right partners at the table and working along with our regional counterparts. We believe that we’ll be able to identify some of those mechanisms that work well for them. Colombia is taking lead on this conference and they will be giving us presentations from throughout the next couple of days. And we plan to engage with them and to see what works well for them, what technology is out there to combat the varied threats that we face as government and as different states in the Caribbean. So we also have seven different countries participating in this activity. It will definitely be good opportunities for us to engage with them as well to see what measures they have implemented. From Belize, you know we are moving towards improving our legislative framework. Just last week we had some amendments to the Cyber Crime Act, strengthening and improving some of those shortcomings that were in the act, trying to have it be more specific. So we are on the right track. This conference puts us in that discussion room trying to see where the police department and the Ministry of Home Affairs would be able to support those legislative changes based on what we would have learned over the next couple days.”
The workshop also provides an opportunity for participants to share experiences and learn from the approaches used in other countries. Among the regional delegates is Franklin Maanster, a Policy Adviser in Cybersecurity from Suriname, who outlined what he hopes to take away from the training.
Franklin Maanster, Policy Advisor in Cybersecurity, Suriname: “I would really like to thank the government of Belize and to have us here as a host and also APC Colombia the organization who brought us here to do the collaboration. I know it’s been in the planning for a year but due to circumstances it got moved to this year today. So I’m really honored and happy to be here. Also part of the Caribbean and also all the other Caribbean countries that are participating in this event because it’s a very important event for all of us to gain the knowledge of cybercrime because the cybercriminals are always a step ahead. So that’s why these kinds of workshop let us see our weaknesses and also our strengths. And especially when we collaborate with each other, we can mitigate and combat all of these challenges that await us. Especially for technical knowledge, as you know, capacity is very important because each country has its own developing and learning stage. Other countries are way further than others but if we work with each other, I believe that we can at some point align and that we can better understand each other, especially in communication. For example, one of the challenges also is the language barrier, but due to communication devices right now, translation, everything is much easier. So the better we understand each other, the better it is to mitigate all that is in the cyberspace.”
Colombia is providing technical expertise through its National Police. Captain José Alejandro Reyes Duque, of the Police Cyber Centre within the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and INTERPOL, explained the curriculum and the areas participants will cover during the training.
José Alejandro Reyes Duque, Policia Nacional de Columbia: “Among the topics that we will be addressing in this knowledge exchange we will be discussing various types of technology that is used to conduct these criminal activities such as for example the use of crypto currencies, the use of Ai, ransomware and other aggressive techniques. These techniques and technologies are used in various countries. We see that the same criminal activities are conducted which is why this type of collaboration is so important. It’s important to note that cyber crime doesn’t have borders. That is to say that a cyber criminals often times there is a criminal that is located in Europe that is attacking victims in this region, Latin America and the Caribbean and this is investigated in a different part of the world and that’s why communication among our countries is so important. For example if we cannot locate the IP in a different country or the technology that has been used we will not be able to investigate that crime. This is why communication and international cooperation are of the essence to be able to go after these criminals.”
At the opening, Colombia’s Foreign Ministry representative Alexandra Pérez Jiménez emphasized that effective cooperation depends on trust and the exchange of knowledge. The initiative aims to strengthen regional capacity to tackle cybercrime while building closer working relationships between Colombia and countries of the Greater Caribbean.
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