A CYBERATTACK was yesterday detected on the network of the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs (AGLA).
The attack resulted in the temporary disruption of operations at the AGLA and certain associated divisions, according to a media release yesterday.
The release was issued by the Ministry of Digital Transformation yesterday afternoon.
Up to last night, the Office of the Attorney General did not reveal any information on the exact services that were negatively affected or any other information on the extent of the attack.
The Express contacted two attorneys employed at the AGLA via telephone, but both said they had only heard of the attack.
“So I heard but I do not know exactly what were the services that they (Digital Transformation Ministry) are speaking of. The website seems to be up and running, so I am not certain what is taking place,” said one of the attorneys.
The other attorney said: “Maybe it was just something that was temporary, but I really can’t say for sure. I was only told about that, but I don’t know what services were affected.”
In its release, the Digital Transformation Ministry said after the attack was detected, “actions to minimise the threat, an investigation, in partnership with leading industry cybersecurity experts, is ongoing”, and, “In the meantime, some services that are usually provided are temporarily unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
In May, Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, said in Parliament that Government was working to strengthen legislation to protect citizens against various forms of cybercrimes.
“Our work is set out for us and we are continuing as a Government to give active consideration to all of the circumstances of criminality,” he had said in response to a question by Independent Senator Paul Richards.
On that occasion, Armour had also said that this country was invited in October of 2021 to formally ratify the Budapest Convention, which is the first international treaty seeking to address Internet and computer crimes by harmonising national laws, improving investigative techniques and increasing co-operation among nations.
Trinidad and Tobago has observer status to the convention and has five years within which to ratify the treaty.
