Cyber security and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are now major aspects of crime fighting in a new century.

This year, there have been a number of cyber attacks and fraud cases at Jamaican companies financial institutions that have drawn the public’s attention. SSL, Sagicor, Mayberry, Massy, Derrimon, NCB, …even at the FSC have all seen incidents that have raised eyebrows.

The police have to pay greater attention to cyber crimes and IPR.

To that end, the Head of the Intellectual Property Rights Unit within the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation (CTOC), Assistant Superintendent Victor Barrett is representing Jamaica and The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) at the 2023 International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property Crime Conference in Oslo, Norway.

The conference takes place between September 25-27, 2023.

Barrett, who is also an attorney will be presenting on Intellectual Property Rights and Technological Advancements at the prestigious conference in Norway.

He will be teaming up with Vincent Danjean, Interpol’s head of the Cyberspace and New Technologies Laboratory. He is also a senior special agent and senior operations manager of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations.

The presentation will be over two days and eighty participant are expected each day.

Barrett on his way to Oslo, Norway said: “Intellectual property rights continue to be of grave concern for countries and Jamaica is not in an isolated position. Apart from clothing and apparel, food security and pharmaceutical protection is of paramount concern.

“People see Intellectual Property Rights as an avenue to make easy money with low risk and remains a conduit to shift funds to criminal organisations and activities. Be that as it may, I am mindful of the public health concerns and our team continues to protect legitimate businesses .”

Barrett also points out that the counterfeit industry is approximately 3 to 5 per cent of world trade and is a US$ trillion industry.