14 DAY TRIAL // The Jamaican government has hired a group of ethical hackers to perform penetration testing on the government’s computer systems.
"It's quite legitimate to get somebody and say go and test what I have put together (website) and see where the loopholes are so I can build a defence against it," Julian Robinson, the minister of state in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining noted.
"That is commonplace in the private sector and that's not an issue, you just have to hope that the ethical hackers remain ethical."
According to the Jamaica Observer, Robinson says he’s aware that some so-called ethical hackers are in it for financial gain. However, he is confident that the government has managed to find individuals that genuinely want to assist.
In the meantime, several steps have been taken on the legislative side.
The official believes that the country’s systems need to be properly protected, especially since there already have been some successful attacks against high-profile organizations, such as the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney’s General Department.