Educators and administrators across the various levels of the education system are being encouraged to participate in a Cybersecurity and Data Protection Forum on February 15.
The event is being hosted by e-Learning Jamaica Company Limited (e-LJAM) in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY), and persons can join the session online via the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) YouTube channel.
The forum is intended to help educational institutions identify, mitigate and protect against potential cybersecurity risks, vulnerabilities and threats.
“Statistics show that educational institutions are prime targets because they hold so much data,” Chief Executive Officer of e-LJAM, Andrew Lee, told JIS News.
“What we are trying to do is to build awareness around the importance of cybersecurity… within the MOEY and educational institutions… in light of all that is happening now,” he added.
He noted that increasing awareness around cybersecurity and data protection must be a priority, especially with technology becoming more ubiquitous in educational institutions.
The forum also sets out to guide institutions in preparing for and recovering from cybersecurity incidents.
Additionally, it will equip the participants with the requisite knowledge to identify solutions that will help protect systems and data before, during, and after an attack. This includes the latest data protection software and formulating secured passwords.
“Also, the Data Protection Act of 2020 is about to come into effect, and as such, holders of significant data, especially schools and businesses, will have to be compliant with the law to ensure that persons’ data that they have in their possession is secured,” he continued.
The Data Protection Act aims to protect the privacy and integrity of data held on individuals by businesses and other organisations. Under the Act, institutions or individuals who fail to comply with the prescribed standards risk prosecution and will be liable to a fine or imprisonment.