The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) has received “quite a number” of data breach reports from local companies, its chief executive said yesterday, with most not wanting to make such information public.

“We receive reports all the time of credit card hacks, credit card compromises,” Edison Sumner said. “We have seen recently some reports  about bank systems begin hacked, bank accounts being hacked, e-mail accounts being hacked.

“We have been seeing this. That’s one of the things that drove us to host the cyber security symposium. We have seen quite a number of breaches. A lot of companies’ systems have been compromised, but they can’t talk about it. No one wants to let the world know that their system is vulnerable.”

Mr Sumner added that data leaks and cyber attacks are ‘a real threat’, pointing to the ‘Panama Papers’ and the recent leak of 1.3 million files from the Bahamas’ corporate registry.

“Given all the security breaches we have seen in recent times, not just in the global arena but locally,  we thought it was the opportune time to bring companies together, and the Government, to talk about cyber security,” he said.

“It is a real threat. It’s important for us to show that we can build systems and educate those responsible for protecting the gateway to their information, as well as finding ways to mitigate against those losses.”

    The Chamber chief executive said businesses not only have to be concerned about cyber security, but also their own internal controls.

“A lot of these compromises may not come from the outside. We also have to have internal controls in place to protect against leakages and other data being compromised in our organisations,” Mr Sumner said.

“The issue with the Panama Papers and the corporate registry leak is a serious concern, and it is important for us to find ways to reduce our exposure to such incidents.”