The Organization of American States (OAS) has deployed a team of experts to Kingston, to provide support with cyber security incident management and the establishment of the country’s National Computer Incident Response Team.

The government has admitted that a number of its websites have been targeted by computer hackers over the past three weeks.

According to the OAS, the support follows a request from the Jamaican government.

It says the support is part of a larger initiative that the OAS Cyber Security Programme is implementing in Jamaica which includes the creation of a National Cyber Security Strategy.

Experts from Uruguay and the OAS General Secretariat are currently providing guidance to local officials on cyber security incident management procedures.

State Minister in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson says he’s pleased the OAS was able to respond and deploy a team on such short notice.

He says a number of other steps have been taken by the ministry following the cyber attacks including working with the OAS and Uruguay and engaging the Communications, Forensics Cybercrimes Unit (CFCU) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), to commence a formal criminal investigation.

It is expected that in the coming weeks the government of Jamaica will officially adopt a National Cyber Security Strategy.

Work on the initiative began in March 2014 with the technical support of the OAS Cyber Security Program, as well with the support of the Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative, the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization, and the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre of University of Oxford.

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