Financial Crime World

Jamaica Battles Rise of Cybercrime in Finance

KINGSTON, JAMAICA - As Jamaica’s financial institutions continue to grapple with the growing threat of cybercrime, the Major Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) has bolstered its efforts to combat the issue.

A Brief History

The MOCA Cyber Forensic Lab was established in 2012 and initially focused on investigating cybercrimes and conducting digital forensics investigations. In 2014, the lab merged with the Anti-Corruption Branch, expanding its responsibilities to include additional roles as a Cyber Forensics and Risk Management Unit.

Capabilities

The unit has advanced its capabilities to conduct:

  • Cyber Defence: Protecting against cyber threats and preventing attacks
  • Cybersecurity Incident Response: Responding quickly and effectively in the event of a cyber attack
  • Post-Mortem Analysis: Analyzing cyber-attacks, such as ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
  • Internal and External Audits: Conducting security audits to create a baseline and implement mitigation measures for government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs)

Unit Members

The Cyber Forensics and Risk Management Unit is comprised of highly trained specialists who can function in various roles. They also deliver cybersecurity lectures and awareness seminars to academia, private, and public organizations.

Daily Operations

The unit’s daily operations are organized around four key areas:

Cyber Forensics

  • Conducting forensic examinations of digital media
  • Recovering deleted or encrypted data
  • Presenting expert evidence in court
  • Maintaining inventories of digital evidence according to NIST and ISO standards

Security Operations

  • Monitoring alerts and analyzing threat actor behavior
  • Providing early warnings against impending cyber attacks
  • Focusing on security operations, malware investigation, and big data analytics

Malware Investigation

  • Quarantining and reverse engineering malware
  • Determining its origin and potential impact
  • Analyzing unknown files for suspicious tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) behavior

Big Data Analytics

  • Using predictive analysis to aid in the prevention and detection of criminal activities
  • Detecting threats through correlation and analysis of collected information
  • Conducting various cybersecurity activities, including cyber threat intelligence, vulnerability assessment, and penetration testing

Commitment to Protection

As Jamaica’s financial sector continues to face the threat of cybercrime, the MOCA Cyber Forensic Lab remains committed to protecting the country’s financial institutions from these threats.