In 2024, the World Economic Forum reported a sharp increase in phishing and social engineering attacks, with 42% of organisations reporting such incidents.
On Thursday, the University of Trinidad and Tobago joined with the Canadian Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago for a seminar on enhancing cybersecurity resilience through policy, best practices, and capacity building.
Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training, Professor Prakash Persad, said the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s collaboration with the Canadian Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago was timely, as everyone needs to be aware of cybersecurity risks.
“The bank I’m with but a very, very sophisticated scam was taking place. They were sending you a Whatsapp stating that you need to log in again. And these people are so, they’ve set up a set of the same bank’s accounts all over the place. So once you log in, they get your log in information and they start transferring everything you have from one account to the next to the next to the next, can’t be traced.”
He said the UTT is actively addressing the issue of cybersecurity, and 24 students are expected to graduate from the university’s Master’s degree programme in cybersecurity.
“UTT has a very vibrant cybersecurity master’s programme that is training a lot of the people in Trinidad. And, in fact, the professor himself is well known as an expert in the Western Hemisphere, where he is called upon to give advice or to represent the region in many sort of fora.”
Canadian High Commissioner Michael Callan highlighted his country’s interest in strengthening local cybersecurity.
“We share family connections, we share business connections, we share cultural connections and sometimes we share criminal connections. It’s only a five-hour flight from here to Toronto but everyone knows we’re just a click or a swipe away. That means that your security is our security. Canada and Trinidad and Tobago are deeply linked and we have a shared interest in keeping all of our communities, on and offline, safe.”
Thursday’s Cybersecurity Seminar dealt with understanding the threat landscape, human-centred threats, response and resilience, and building a cyber-resilient future.