National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds was greeted with a hearty round of applause by members of the Senate on November 29 when he stood to answer a question on measures taken to deal with a new online phishing scam.
This came the day after the PM confirmed Hinds would not be running for the constituency of Laventille West, a seat he has held for the PNM since 2015.
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1995 and served for 12 years as MP for Laventille East/Morvant. He was later an opposition senator.
Responding to a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark, Hinds said there were two agencies set up to deal with phishing, a type of cybet attack in which attackers try to trick people into revealing personal information such as usernames, passwords and credit-card numbers.
He said they typically do this by pretending to be a trustworthy entity like a bank, company, friends or family.
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The two agencies are the TT Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (CSIRT) and the police service cyber crime unit.
Hinds said there were two recent incidents of phishing. The first was a campaign imitating the Republic Bank online banking portal in an attempt to harvest usernames and passwords.
“TTCSIRT has taken steps to report the phishing links to the respective foreign hosting providers and have taken them down. To date, all phishing links that have been reported to TTCSIRT have been successfully brought down.”
He said TTCSIRT had issued warnings and guidance on social media about a second phishing campaign meant to take over access to people’s WhatsApp accounts. He said the agency is developing an awareness guide to be posted on the ministry’s website.
Hinds said the police cyber crime unit had been doing public awareness campaigns about the dangers of phishing scams and how to recognise them; enhancing monitoring and increasing surveillance on online activities to detect and respond to phishing attempts more quickly; collaborating with financial institutions like banks to identify and shut down fake websites and fraudulent activities; forensic analysis using advanced forensic tools to trace the origins of phishing attacks and gather evidence for prosecution; establishing reporting mechanisms; and encouraging the public to report suspicious messages to the authorities.
Hinds said he was not aware of the number of people affected by the phishing scams, but the police were responding to reports.
Later in the proceedings, Mark asked Hinds about measures taken to deter at-risk youth from criminal activity.
“I have to address that question to my outgoing colleague. I will miss you. May I address this question to my colleague and friend? Minister of National Security, I will miss you.”
Before replying, Hinds said, “It is rather interesting to note that I am moving on from 30 years of representative politics, a sphere, a field, in which the honourable Senator never got started – politically stillborn.”
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This was greeted by raucous laughter and applause in the Senate.
Hinds was referring to Mark's failure to be elected to the House of Representatives as an MP despite being in active politics since 1988. Mark has, however, served the UNC in the Senate since 1990, only breaking to serve as speaker of the House from 2010-2015.
Returning to the question, Hinds said the police had developed and implemented strategic programmes, workshops and seminars with a focus on social challenges such as drug abuse, domestic violence, incest, rape, anger management and gang-related activities.
He said the service had started proactive measures to help deter and suppress criminal violation by youths deemed at risk.
“The traditional at-risk group has now broadened to more learned, educated, not fitting traditional profiles, who use their acumen to perpetrate antisocial and criminal behaviour in this country and the world. They look ordinary, in other words.”
He said one measure was the establishment of a community-oriented policing section across TT to develop a closer, more effective relationship with high-risk communities to help in the struggle against the criminal elements who are infiltrating and influencing youth in these communities. He said this has been largely successful and was shown in the work of the inter-agency task force’s (IATF) Hearts and Minds team.
“The community policing concept is based on the premise that both the police and the community must work closely together to identify, prioritise and solve contemporary issues. This is inclusive of crime, drugs, the fear of crime, social and physical disorder and overall neighbourhood and community decay.”
Hinds said in recent times, crime and violence have emerged as major concerns for TT, with an increase in violence in and out of schools, often carried out by students.
“There are also activities of gangs which are in constant battle, largely over drugs and guns turf. It has also been identified that some of the violent gangs, predominantly along the East-West Corridor and south-central regions now have their influences entrenched in the school system.
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“Criminal elements often rely on juveniles to conduct narcotic sales and conceal contraband, even in places used as safe spaces in their respective communities. Juveniles are used as stashers, gun sacks, mules and lookouts.”
Hinds said police-service liaison officers attached to the Community Policing Unit had been assigned to schools labelled high-risk to partner with and foster harmonious relationships between the police and students, allowing a level of mentorship.
He said the absence of proper mentorship accounts in part for the increase in crime and deviant behaviour among young people, and the police service, through lectures, mentorship programmes and partnerships, was providing literature and in-house seminars to develop communication skills, ethics, anger management programmes, career choices and conflict resolution.
Asked if he had any further questions, Mark said, “Normally I would interrogate him. Today I put him to rest.”
