National

Cyber Security Expert: No System is Entirely Safe

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – With over 300 attendees, the inaugural Cyber Security Summit on Thursday convened experts from around the globe to discuss the pressing threats in the digital space.

Published

1 year ago

February 21, 2025

Delvardo Emmanuel

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – With over 300 attendees, the inaugural Cyber Security Summit on Thursday convened experts from around the globe to discuss the pressing threats in the digital space.

The one-day summit at Atlantis Resort, hosted by Aliv Business, served as a wake-up call for companies and individuals to strengthen digital defenses across all sectors.

“We started the day with some policymakers in the room, um, uh, industry partners, whether they are vendors from the U.S. and abroad, as well as what we call local network engineers, uh, across our organizations, because we feel, as Cable Bahamas, it is our duty to elevate the conversation and to lean in with our partners to help us navigate this issue of cyber security,” says Franklyn Butler – President, CEO, Cable Bahamas Group of Companies.

Cable Bahamas President and CEO is Franklyn Butler.

He says the summit also tackled practical strategies for businesses to protect themselves from cyber threats, especially during times of crisis such as hurricanes.

Cable Bahamas director of information security is Shakira Johnson.

“Cyber threats are growing in complexity and increasingly coming closer and closer to our doorsteps. So if we do not take action now, we are risking our sustainability as a community, as a country, as organizations or businesses,” says Butler.

And that threat recently became real when the University of The Bahamas was hit by a ransomware attack.

In her keynote address, former U.S. national cyber security director Kemba Walden stressed the need for global partnerships to combat the threats.

UB’s recent attack is a reminder that no system is entirely safe.

“When a school gets popped by a ransomware actor, that the school is only out for a day and not for months, so that the school can get back to the business that it relies on our secure internet for. And that’s educating our kids, that’s delivering for hospitals, delivering health care,” says Kemba Walden – Former U.S. National Cyber Security Director.

“We follow the NIST framework, um, in terms of our overall cyber posture. And these are well-recognized frameworks, these are globally recognized frameworks. And I will tell you that, listen, it is not good enough to say, ‘Listen, I’m going to have my server in my office. I’m not going to connect it to the internet.’ We’re long past that stage of discussion,” says Franklyn Butler.