Law enforcement and judicial officials from 10 Caribbean countries converged in The Bahamas for a two-day computer crimes and intellectual property rights conference Tuesday.
The United States Department of Justice Overseas Prosecutorial Development and Training Division (OPDAT) in collaboration with the Organization of American States sponsored the workshop at The British Colonial Hilton Hotel.
Observing that cyberspace is no respecter of national boundaries,Attorney General and Minister of Education, Alfred Sears, stated ” We note the proliferation of international efforts to create a common body of computer crime laws, with particular reference to the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime, the U.N. Manual on the prevention and control of computer-related crime and more immediately the present OAS workshop.”
He explained that a computer may be the target of the offense in which the criminal’s goal is to steal information or cause damage. Second, the computer may be a tool of the offense. Third, computers are sometimes incidental to the offense, but significant to law enforcement because they contain evidence of a crime.
In his remarks, Charge d’ Affaires at the US Embassy, Dr. Brent Hardt, highlighted that international cooperation is vital to combating cybercrime and the use of the Internet for malevolent ends such conning a data company out of personal I.D. numbers and stealing credit card accounts.
Dr. Hardt also highlighted that “criminals attack the State and Defense Departments of the U.S. daily, seeking to impede U.S. government operations. These types of incidents are already in the Caribbean, and they undermine the confidence of consumers, businesses and investors”.
He noted that the workshop was the fourth in a hemispheric series conducted by the OAS Group of Government Experts on computer crime and seeks to provide technical assistance and essential background information.
Further he stated that the U.S. State Department supported the workshops and pledged its continued support in the international fight against cyber crime.
By: JIMENITA SWAIN, The Nassau Guardian
