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Guardsman Group Limited has launched its new Cyber Secure Operations Centre, SOC, in Kingston, which Group Director of Finance Neil Robinson says was outfitted at a cost of just under US$2 million.
“We invested that amount in getting all of the equipment to include everything. We had to hire people, train those persons. The software technology that we have behind this cybercentre, we had to invest in that also,” Robinson said.
Speaking at the opening of the facility on Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness said the investment by Guardsman, one of Jamaica’s largest private security companies, has taken the physical security guard into the cyber realm.
“This new security operating centre represents a bold and necessary step in safeguarding our digital future,” said PM Holness.
“It is a clear demonstration that the Caribbean can be not only consumers of global technology, but also creators of cutting-edge security infrastructure tailored to our regional realities,” he said.
“The world we live in today is connected in ways never before imagined. Every sector, whether it is finance, health, education, manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, every sector is being reshaped by the digital transformation.” Holness added.
The centre falls under the Guardsman Cyber Intelligence Unit.
The mission-critical section of the facility is mounted with large screens, extending wall-to-wall and up to the ceiling, for easy monitoring, and two rows of seating for cybertechnicians. The technicians are also assigned individual computer screens.
The centre will operate on three shifts on a 24-hour basis, each of which will be manned by 12 personnel.
Deputy Executive Chairman of Guardsman Group, Nicholas Benjamin says the services offered by the cybercentre will be targeted at companies that are “data-heavy, particularly those who are collecting other people’s details; including where there’s any credit card information or any sensitive information that they are storing on somebody else’s behalf”.
Jamaica’s Data Protection Act mandates the protection of people’s data, he noted and, as such, companies are required, under threat of serious penalties, to maintain a robust cybersecurity environment that protects data and minimises the effects of constant cyberattacks.
There are other cybercentres in operation in Jamaica, particularly within the apparatuses of some financial institutions and the government, but they operate on a small scale and cater mostly to individual organisations or dedicated functions.
Other companies, particularly those who need to comply with the dictates of the DPA, must rely on the services of overseas providers, sometimes at great cost.
Speaking to the Financial Gleaner after the ribbon-cutting exercise, Chief Technology Officer at Guardsman, Omar Edwards, said that while Jamaica doesn’t have a system for SOCs, because of the novelty, the Guardsman SOC is certified as a level-four facility within the five-tier international system.
“The data centre that runs our hardware and software is PCI-DSS compliant and we are SOC 2.2 compliant, and it was built based on ISO 27001 standards. From an international standards perspective, it’s right up there,” said Edwards.
“If you are trying to do something, like at the CIA level, you’ll find that only a few government entities try to reach level-five certification but, traditionally, SOCs aim for level three and level four,” he said.
The CTO said the capabilities of the Guardsman SOC have been showcased to both the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force.
“They’re very interested in collaboration, and I think, more than collaboration, they’re interested … for us to help to provide some of our intelligence information, but also to help them build the capabilities that they have and augment some of the capabilities that they have. So those relationships, I guess, will grow over time,” Edwards said.
Benjamin also indicated that the company was willing to demonstrate the centre’s capabilities to prospective clients, in order to engender trust in the services it will provide.
It’s “for us to invite who we think will be interested parties to the service to come and bear witness to exactly what goes on behind the scenes, because cybersecurity is one of those things that your average layperson doesn’t know the technicalities of,” Benjamin said.
He predicts that the centre will do robust business, because of the groundwork done prior to the launch.
“The foundation that we have laid here today and over the last few months, of construction and implementation and forging these partnerships, internally and externally, it will be a great investment for us. Indeed, it will be a great investment for Jamaica and the wider Caribbean as well,” he added, the latter comment a reference to the export potential of the operation.
The Guardsman SOC is said to be exporting its services already, with two governments in the region currently on board. The nature of those arrangements were not specified.
Benjamin says there is a pipeline of business that the company wouldn’t want to share publicly.
“We’re expecting close to exponential growth in the first few years, as the business starts rolling out and getting more accepted by the market. The problem is, everybody knows they need cybersecurity; [but] ask them what that means, they don’t know,” said Benjamin. “They leave that to us to know,” he said.
The Guardsman Group has a total workforce of about 8,000 spread across seven territories in the Caribbean. Jamaica is its largest market, with close to 1,000 employees, according to founding Executive Chairman Kenny Benjamin.
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