(Trinidad Express) “Make no mistake about it; the threat of computer attacks in the Caribbean is real. Caribbean networks are already under constant attack from hackers from across the world.”
This statement from Gregory Richardson, CEO of US-based computer security firm Leet Networks, came from a special regional forum for computer professionals organized by the Caribbean Network Operators Group, CaribNOG in Castries, St Lucia.
According to Richardson, organisations in the region and around the world are storing an increasing amount of information on computer networks.
“There is a dangerous flipside to this explosion in electronic data. As computer networks connect to the Internet, they are susceptible to attack by modern-day digital pirates, known as computer hackers.”
Wooding, a Trinidad-born technology expert, led the CaribNOG team of ethical hackers from the US and the Caribbean that shared practical measures to help protect corporate networks and data from online hackers.
Wooding explained that the objective of the CaribNOG St Lucia meeting was to bring attention to the threats governments and business face from computer attacks and to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas and experiences between those responsible for managing our networks.’
According to Wooding, “An ethical hacker is a basically a computer expert who attacks a security system on behalf of its owners, seeking vulnerabilities that a malicious hacker could exploit. They are the good guys.”