CyberEye launched to help protect companies' data

Protecting your data, whether personal or organisational, has just become easier with CyberEye, a cybersecurity group made up of people from tech and security firms. This group will offer people policies, processes, and technologies to manage risk as well as help them detect and respond to any digital threat.

This group includes Angela Lee Loy, a stalwart in the business sector holding many titles – chairperson and founder of Aegis Business Solutions Ltd, a business consultancy for the English-speaking Caribbean, based in TT.

Lee Loy is a board member and a non-executive board member at several other leading associations. She is also past president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC), past president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of TT (ICATT), and former TT representative of the International Assembly of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

She is also chair of Eve Anderson Recruitment Ltd and now chairman of CyberEye.

CEO Ian John speaking to Business Day said, "There is a heightened need for this type of solution and service offering given the growing cyber-risks worldwide. CyberEye was created to close the gap in ensuring the citizenry are well equipped to deal with this threat."

He explained that cybercrime can be considered an organised crime, and labelled it a “crisis” while speaking at the launch at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. John said CyberEye will be able to help companies protect themselves from cyberattacks which can lead to loss of clients' information and earnings. He said ransomware has become one the biggest threats to companies worldwide.

John explained, "Ransomware actors are becoming increasingly aggressive and sophisticated, turning once relatively simple attacks into more elaborate and lucrative multifaceted extortion operations. These crimes usually involve multiple attack points, including ransomware encryption, data theft and public 'naming and shaming' of the victim organisations, all of which presents a more profound risk to organisations."

Though he didn't give any specific instances, Trinidad recently had an experience with ransomware in April when a cyberattack crippled business at all 23 Massy Stores locations. This attack was followed by another attack at a Massy Stores branch in Jamaica.

According to CyberSecurity Dive, the average cost of a ransomware attack in the US fell to US$1.4 million in 2021, down from US$1.85 million in 2020.

CyberEye was only launched on Tuesday, but John said, "The software solutions provided by CyberEye and our partners have been fully developed and deployed extensively in the UK at numerous companies. There are over 500-plus organisations with over 4,000-plus users."

He explained that with cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated, there would be a need for more cybersecurity personnel given there are only 3.4 million people who are effectively trained worldwide.

As for cost, John said, "There is no one-size-fits-all for our solutions, as each organisation's risk-profile and budget varies. Depending on the specific requirements, solutions can range from US$2,000 to US$65,000 annually."

He said according to SonicWall's 2022 cyber-threat report, over 28 million malware attacks are blocked every day, but not all attempts to block them are successful.

He added that creating this company is overdue, since cybercrime happens almost every day and the protection is needed, especially in the Caribbean.

Not only will CyberEye protect companies, it will also protect children and teenagers who use platforms with chatting options, through a programme from CyberEye called Crosswalk.

The aim is to protect this age group from cyberbullying, cybersecurity, child pornography and human trafficking. John said he has heard many stories of children being preyed upon through the internet, but did not share any during his presentation. But he said with CyberEye and Crosswalk, he hopes to protect everyone from critical cyberattacks as they can become dire very quickly. A price on acquiring the Crosswalk software was not given, but John said there are multiple corporate sponsors.

John said if this explanation isn't enough, the motive can be seen from CyberEye's logo: two squares representing a company and its clients in the eye of a “storm.”

Business Day also spoke to Marvin Marcelle, the CEO and founder of eboxtickets, an app and website created for event promoters as an easy way to keep track of ticket sales, income and everything in between. He attended the launch of CyberEye and commended the team on their aim to reduce instances of ransomware. Marcelle said he witnessed this happening at a company where he once worked, and with eboxtickets having sensitive information stored, he must ensure there are no cyberattacks.

Marcelle said, "Given the increase in ransomware attacks since the pandemic, the mobile app has also adopted the same security technologies used in our parent company – eboxtenders – including multi-factor authentication, data encryption, key management and threat detection as well as Amazon S3 bucket storage system which is a flexible security feature to block unauthorised users from accessing data, among other important security features.”

Marcelle said this protection process is ongoing as technology develops continuously.

CyberEye's office can be found at 18 Scott Bushe Street, Port of Spain, but people interested in utilising their services can do so through the website at www.cybereyecaribbean.com or via email at info@cybereyecaribbean.com.