Our professionals from Irium Mexico actively participated in the first Index 2022 National Cybersecurity Forum: Business continuity in times of crisis, which was held last July in Merida, in the state of Yucatan.
The forum was organised by Index Yucatán, the Association of Maquiladoras de Exportación de Yucatán, with the aim of raising awareness of this issue among companies in the sector. To this end, they invited several expert speakers in the field, as well as various consulting firms specialised in cybersecurity that could offer them a first-hand view of current business security issues and how they can help them to protect their companies.
During the event, the worrying data on cyber-attacks and cybercrime that are growing exponentially was highlighted. "The data are overwhelming: of the 156 billion cyber-attacks registered in the first half of 2022 (in Latin America), some 80 billion correspond to Mexico", commented Tiburcio Sánchez, from the National Council of the Maquiladora and Manufacturing Export Industry (Index). "The Cybersecurity Forum seeks to create awareness and provide solutions to companies, it is a matter of prevention rather than monitoring", explained the expert.
On behalf of Irium Mexico, Susana Orallo and José Manuel Cantó were present. Both regretted in their speeches that in Mexico and Latin America few companies use cybersecurity services to protect their businesses. SMEs do not invest in protection systems, because they believe they are not susceptible to cyber attacks, but attacks and extortion do not distinguish between a small company and a giant," said Cantó.
For her part, our country manager, Susana Orallo, explained to the business people in attendance how Irium can help them protect their companies through a 360º service related to cybersecurity, "from vulnerability analyses, accompanying them in adapting the tools and technologies they require, to the solution when there is a problem".
As a revealing fact, Agent Conal Whetten, FBI legal attaché at the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, said in his speech that Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Mexico and Singapore are the main countries where criminals deposit money from extortion and other cybercrimes. "The most affected sectors are private hospitals, financial services, information technology, factories and government facilities. The FBI representative regretted that Mexico ranks fourth in receiving illicit money, "as it comes from cyber extortion and other similar crimes". He also highlighted that cyber-attacks are growing catastrophically, as while in 2017, in Mexico there were 14.8 million dollars in losses registered in technical support frauds last year the figure rose to 347.6 million dollars.
During the inauguration of the event, Martha Delgado Peralta, undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed that information technologies are a key element for development in Mexico, "but they contribute to generating spaces of risk" that leave "a situation of vulnerability".
"Sixty per cent of companies in Mexico have suffered identity theft, information security breaches or other types of cyber-attacks, but the country is part of the drafting of the new international convention to combat cyber-crime," he said. In addition, he commented that the Mexican Foreign Ministry is participating with the United Nations (UN) to contribute to critical and global standards for other interesting topics: the use of artificial intelligence, security oriented to the prevention of cyber-conflicts.
For his part, Enrique Yamuni Robles, president of the National Chamber of the Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology Industry (CaNIETI), proposed creating a National Cybersecurity Agency to help companies deal with these threats. "Without excessive burdens, without invading privacy and at the same time helping to promote digitalisation, especially in SMEs," he said.
Sources: Agencia EFE and own. Image: Banco Sabadell.