MONTEGO BAY, St James — Even as Jamaica celebrates landmark progress in cutting both violent traditional crime and digital incidents, the top cybersecurity official at the island nation’s Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) is sounding a clear alarm: an unavoidable wave of AI-fueled cyber attacks is on the horizon. Dr. Patrick Linton, MOCA’s chief cybersecurity expert, shared this warning during a plenary session focused on security and public safety at the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, hosted last Tuesday at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
Linton explained that the rapid evolution of digital technology and expanding internet access across Jamaica have created ideal conditions for cyber threats to grow more complex and widespread. “As crime has dropped in the physical world, as the commissioner’s representative and the national security minister noted, it has simultaneously grown on digital platforms,” Linton told attendees. “We have already tracked a steady rise in cybercrimes and related incidents across the country.”
What makes the coming wave particularly concerning, Linton emphasized, is the integration of artificial intelligence into criminal strategies. AI-powered cyber attacks will dramatically boost both the scale and sophistication of threats targeting Jamaica and nations across the globe, he said. “We are going to see a surge in cyber attacks enabled by artificial intelligence, so it is critical that the public understands the shifting risk landscape we face,” he warned.
In response to this emerging threat, MOCA is moving aggressively to strengthen public resilience through expanded education and outreach. The agency is embedding cyber safety training into schools, universities, churches and a wide range of community social facilities, while ramping up public awareness campaigns to help Jamaicans recognize and avoid common cyber threats. “We are expanding our awareness sessions, and institutionalizing cybercrime education across primary and secondary schools, as well as higher education institutions. Our teams have already delivered training to churches and dozens of community groups across the country,” Linton added.
Looking back at his decades-long career in cybersecurity, Linton recalled a formative trip to South Korea 20 years ago, where local authorities were already fending off roughly 16,000 cyber attacks every single day. At the time, most Jamaicans dismissed that level of cyber activity as something that could never happen on the island, he noted. “Now, with far wider internet penetration and greater volumes of personal and institutional data online, we are absolutely going to see a rise in cybercrimes, ranging from phishing scams to business email compromise and other sophisticated attacks,” Linton said.
Linton also confirmed that over the past five years, multiple Jamaican government systems have already faced cyber attacks, with MOCA leading the response to contain and remediate those breaches. While threats remain active, he credited targeted public education and cross-sector partnerships for the notable drop in successful cyber incidents Jamaica has seen in recent years. Early gaps in public awareness, the absence of formalized cyber incident response frameworks and limited institutional focus on cybersecurity left the country far more vulnerable in years past, Linton explained. Those weaknesses pushed MOCA to deepen collaboration with system administrators, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), educational institutions and community groups — efforts that have delivered clear results. “We have seen a sharp reduction, a significant slash in successful cyber attacks against public and private targets across Jamaica,” he said.
Beyond financial and state-targeted cybercrime, Linton also highlighted the growing crisis of cyberbullying, a issue that keeps MOCA’s response teams busy around the clock. The agency receives constant reports of online harassment, he said, underscoring the organization’s expanding mandate to protect vulnerable populations in digital spaces. “Our core mission at MOCA is to work hand-in-hand with communities to reduce the prevalence of cyber attacks, and to prosecute offenders under existing national laws when cybercrimes are committed,” Linton noted.
The security plenary session, moderated by Senior Superintendent Dennis Brooks, also included remarks from several top Jamaican security officials: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr. Horace Chang, Deputy Commissioner of Police Richard Stewart, and Chief Technical Director for Crime Prevention Shauna Trowers.
Dr. Chang used the platform to share promising news about broader crime reduction efforts across Jamaica, announcing that the island recorded 674 murders in 2025 — marking the first time in more than 30 years that the annual homicide total has dropped below 700, a milestone he described as historic. The 2025 homicide rate landed at 24 per 100,000 people, a dramatic decline from the 62 per 100,000 recorded in 2005. What is more, homicides in the first quarter of 2026 have already fallen 29 percent compared to the same period in 2025, Chang added.
The national security minister also noted that law enforcement clearance rates have improved dramatically over the past 13 years. In 2012, police made 44 arrests for every 100 murders committed; by 2025, that number climbed to 99 arrests per 100 murders. This improvement has strengthened deterrence and boosted public confidence in Jamaica’s law enforcement institutions, Chang said.