Making concerted efforts to better equip itself against the increasing presence of cyber related crimes, the Guyana Police Force (GPF), which recently re-commissioned their computer training lab as the ZARA Cyber Security Centre, will be training ranks in the areas of cyber-crime investigations.
The ranks will be instructed under the guidance of Detective Sergeant Julio Jonas, who is one of the officers that benefited immensely from cyber training through ”Red Track” in Jamaica and also through courses by Interpol (International Police), which were held in the Dominican Republic.
Jonas speaking with this publication said that the aim of his training was to teach techniques in battling hacks, enabling ranks to deal with cyber related crime issues such as: Data Recovery, Covert and Overt, Intelligence Gathering and the Dark Web to name a few areas.
“The training I received has helped me to better understand the offences of cyber-crime, the sources of the attacks and the way the perpetrators of these attacks think’’ Sergeant Jonas said.
He posited that in Guyana, in recent times there has been a proliferation of cyber related crimes such as: social media bullying, sharing of unapproved nude pictures and more prominently the software attacks on the mainframe of Guyana Water Inc. (G.W.I) which saw the timely response of experts of the GPF, enabling them to quickly identify and control the issue.
Touching on the need to be knowledgeable in the outlined sector, Jonas elaborated that the training “brings further awareness to the threats that exist in our ever developing, technologically advanced society but also highlights remedies for dealing with these threats. It is therefore quite reassuring when you consider the effect this team can have where citizens commute freely, knowing we have a Police Force that is capable of handling any issue that poses a threat to our security.”
Accompanying Sergeant Jonas in Jamaica were Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Mahadeo Singh, Sergeant Rodwell Serrabo and Inspector Dellon Elexey. Jonas also underwent training in the Republic of Dominica with ASP Singh and a Certified Interpol Instructor follow-up course in Curacao.
Sergeant Jonas said he is enthusiastic about sharing the knowledge he has gained from his training with members of the Force who will be selected for upcoming ‘Cyber Security Courses’, while adding that the implementation of the courses speaks to the GPF’s dedication for continued development of its ranks.
