The policy framework regarding legislation for cyber-crime in Barbados is expected to be implemented within this calendar year.
This is according to Commerce Minister, Donville Inniss, who stated that the reality was that businesses were facing major cyber security concerns.
He stressed that the right policies, supported by the correct legislative framework, were needed to ensure that individual and personal data, as well as companies, were protected as far as possible from those who engaged in cyber-crime on a daily basis.
The Minister made this disclosure this morning while speaking to media after the opening ceremony of an e-commerce seminar entitled: The impact of E-commerce on entrepreneurs and small businesses: Cyber-crime, Intellectual property rights and maintaining your web presence, at Bagnall???s Point Gallery, Pelican Village.
Stating that it was his belief that businesses, generally speaking, in Barbados did not take cyber security seriously, Mr. Inniss said that every day there were stories of businesses that had to halt their operations, or lost millions of dollars in revenue because someone hacked into their server or someone corrupted files along the way.
???These are matters that must be taken seriously. In the same way that you spent a lot of your money on a marketing budget in terms of buying vehicles, overseas travel and those things, then businesses in Barbados are going to have to start paying more attention to protecting their data and safeguarding their customers and their IT infrastructure,??? he maintained.
Noting that anyone doing business online was at risk, Mr. Inniss added that it was not only those persons who were selling goods and services, but it was also those who were providing information to the public, such as government departments, who were also at risk.??The seminar, which was facilitated by the Division of Commerce, brought together stakeholders from the small business community.
theresa.blackman@barbados.gov.bb