A secure digital future begins long before a cyberattack. It begins in the decisions that shape a software system, the questions researchers ask about emerging technologies, and the education of people who will design, manage and defend the services on which society depends.

 

At the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), The University of the West Indies, Mona, these connections are central to the Department of Computing’s cybersecurity work. Through undergraduate education, research and industry collaboration, the Department is helping develop the expertise Jamaica and the wider Caribbean need to navigate an increasingly connected world.

 

October’s observance of Cybersecurity Awareness Month offers an opportunity to consider the intellectual challenge behind that work: how can societies embrace digital innovation while making the systems they rely on more trustworthy?

 

The Department’s undergraduate Cybersecurity major brings together computing fundamentals and specialist security education. Its curriculum includes systems programming, software engineering, algorithms, artificial intelligence, information assurance, security analysis and digital forensics, alongside a capstone project. This foundation supports an approach to cybersecurity that requires students to understand how systems are built, how they operate and where vulnerabilities can arise.

 

For students, the field presents a demanding combination of technical investigation, problem-solving and professional judgement. Understanding a vulnerability is only part of the task; deciding how to assess its significance, communicate the risk and support an appropriate response is equally consequential.

 

The Department’s Computer Intrusions, Forensics and Exploitations Research (C.I.F.E.R) Group, led by Dr. Curtis Busby-Earle (Senior Lecturer), examines cybersecurity challenges through research that connects software development, threat detection and emerging technologies. One strand of its work addresses security requirements engineering: identifying potential weaknesses in what a system is expected or permitted to do before those weaknesses become embedded in software. The Department’s research profile describes a loophole-analysis approach for discovering potential security flaws during requirements engineering, with aspects of the findings implemented in DevAssist, an application deployed in industry. The implication is significant. Security decisions begin with the specification of a system’s behaviour. Examining those decisions early creates an opportunity to identify problems before deployment.

 

C.I.F.E.R’s documented work also includes machine learning approaches to botnet detection, exploring how combinations of classifiers can help distinguish cyber threats. Its research portfolio extends to indirect prompt injection attacks on large language models, bringing the security of AI-enabled systems into focus.

These areas raise connected questions: how can suspicious behaviour be recognised reliably, and how should systems respond when apparently useful information may contain an attempt to manipulate them? For organisations adopting AI, such questions make security part of the design and evaluation of innovation itself.

 

The Department’s cybersecurity work also extends through collaboration with the University of Leeds. In 2023, Dr. Curtis Busby-Earle visited Leeds’ School of Mechanical Engineering to lead cybersecurity orientation meetings, share his research and explore opportunities for future collaboration. He also served as principal organiser of the first Global Security Perspective Online International Symposium, held April 17–19, 2023, in collaboration with Leeds. The event brought together academics from The UWI’s Mona, St. Augustine and Five Islands campuses and participants from Mexico, the United Kingdom, Kenya and South Africa. These exchanges provide a platform for Caribbean expertise to contribute to international discussions on security while opening opportunities for shared learning and research.

Connecting academic knowledge with practical capability

 

The Group’s activities also encompass postgraduate supervision, teaching and professional services. These include penetration testing, staff training and software requirements specifications, connecting academic expertise with challenges faced by public and private sector organisations.

 

Industry collaboration provides another route for strengthening that relationship. In July 2025, The UWI Mona and Precision Cybertechnologies and Digital Solutions Limited announced the Precision Cybersecurity Lab initiative, backed by a US$75,000 investment.

 

The Group’s programme includes developing Cybersecurity Teaching and Research Laboratory (CTRL), with planned opportunities for simulated practice, research and training towards professional certifications. Such an environment offers a way to connect classroom understanding with the complexity of investigating and responding to threats.

 

 

The Faculty’s cybersecurity expertise has also informed national legislative discussions. Dr. Curtis Busby-Earle served as lead author of The UWI Mona’s submission commenting on proposed revisions to Jamaica’s Cybercrimes Act, 2015. On July 14, 2021, he joined Professor Daniel Coore and Dr. Gunjan Mansingh in presenting the University’s recommendations to Parliament’s Joint Select Committee. Among the concerns raised was the need for a more precise definition of “unauthorised access” that accurately reflected how digital resources are accessed. This contribution illustrates how the Faculty connects computing expertise with public decision-making to support an informed approach to Jamaica’s digital security.

 

The strategic value of this work reaches beyond the computing laboratory. Digital banking, education, healthcare, commerce and public services all depend on confidence in how information is stored, shared and used. For the Caribbean, developing cybersecurity expertise locally strengthens the capacity to assess technologies, question assumptions and make informed decisions about digital development.

 

The Faculty’s combination of teaching, research and collaboration points towards that broader purpose. Students need the foundations to keep learning as technologies change. Researchers need space to investigate vulnerabilities that existing approaches may overlook. Organisations need access to knowledge that helps them turn awareness into action.

 

Cybersecurity Awareness Month therefore invites a sustained conversation about the future Jamaica and the Caribbean are building—and the people, research and judgement required to secure it.

 

Learn more about cybersecurity study, research and collaboration through the Department of Computing (https://www.mona.uwi.edu/compsci/), Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, Mona.