A leading law enforcement professional has praised the Isle of Man’s cyber security strategy

Gary Kibbey believes everyone has their part to play in the war against cyber crime because anyone who uses the internet is potentially at risk.

And he warns that, unlike the criminals of the past, today’s crooks do not have any physical or geographic borders to worry about.

Mr Kibbey, a former inspector in the Metropolitan police force, was a key contributor to the UK National Cyber Crime Unit [NCCU] and Serious Organised Crime Agency [SOCA] eCrime unit.

But he was in the island in his role working with Kent-based consultancy firm AML.

AML joined forces with island based Expol and the Finance Isle of Man agency to present two sell-out meetings with representatives of small to medium-sized businesses [SMEs].

Speaking before the gatherings at the Barclays Eagle Lab in Victoria Street, Douglas, Mr Kibbey stressed the human element involved in the battle against cyber crime.

He told Business News it gave him the ’opportunity to share from some of my experience which has included the criminal intelligence threat picture for the British Isles of cyber crime over the last 10 to 15 years.’

He said: ’I’ve seen it from the early days of credit card fraud all the way to where we are now with this global threat.’

An important part of the in-depth seminars included a practical exercise centred around a fictitious ’ransomware’ threat made against an island company.

Mr Kibbey said he was impressed with the Isle of Man’s national cyber security strategy which was launched in May this year.

He said he was pleased with what the island government was doing ’in terms of ensuring that there is a framework, and that framework will give everybody the ability to see the direction of travel.

’That is a very positive step taken here in the Isle of Man .’

He referred to the ’linking of the legislation with the European union’s GDPR [general data protection regulations] in terms of the island’s legislation around data breaches.

’It gives clear instructions about what the process and consequences of managing a data breach are.

’These are all positive things for businesses to look at to see they are compliant with these areas.

’But actually it is good for business, and it is not just a matter of compliance.’

Mr Kibbey said there had been an escalation of cyber crime over the last decade and he intended to deal with perceptions about this in the business community at the Eagle Lab gatherings.

Drawing on his huge experience he said: ’I hope I can give a professional insight into the reality of it and how that has the potential to impact on SMEs.

’It’s not about scaremongering, it’s about bringing a realistic approach to responding to a threat which is now impacting on everybody.

’This is whether it is the home user, whether it is buisiness or whether it is large commercial enterprises,

’And of course since the internet has been created you do not have those physical and geograhical borders that you used to have [fighting crime].’

Mr Kibbey used his experience in the world of fighting crime to illustrate how we all faced the same threats and this definitely included the island.

He has also worked with law enforcement agencies across the world.

He stressed that the message he is putting across affects people from the top downwards so it was important for company bosses and boards to be as involved as much as the staff.

He said: ’Boards are getting better at understanding these threats, they have seen this explosion across the world of data breaches .’

He added there are things that are happening which are raising awareness at board and senior management level.

’But as we say there is more work to be done in this area because there is more opportunities from businesses working online.

’If you are not online then you may not be moving forward.

’But if you are going online then you need to ensure that you are thinking about all these other aspects.

’And certainly before I came over to the island I looked at the island’s cyber security strategy which came out in May and it is a very good template for people to look at.’

The move followed the establishment last year of the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance [OCSIA] which acts as the focal point for the government’s cyber resilience measures.

It operates alongside international efforts aimed at combating cyber-attacks, including the UK’s cyber-resilience initiatives and international efforts to protect against a range of online malpractice.

Mr Kibbey said said that in terms of where cyber crime comes from,’it is a global problem.’

He told Business News: ’It will emanate from areas right across the globe.’

’Cyber criminality is now very broad. It has evolved from when I first started.’