At the Asia-Pacific Cybersecurity Conference held in Malaysia’s capital, experts warned that Southeast Asia is a vulnerable region to cyberattacks, particularly from cyberterrorist groups.
The Southeast Asia Counter-Terrorism Center confirmed that this threat is increasing, as developing countries in the region have not yet established effective protection and control systems for the computer networks of government agencies, financial systems, banks, and personal computers.
Cyberterrorists and hackers can launch attacks on the public networks of government agencies, paralyzing their operations or spreading computer viruses to aid in gathering and damaging data systems.
Furthermore, terrorist groups are using the Internet to propagate their ideology and organize bombing attacks online.
During the conference, cybersecurity experts discussed measures to help governments in the region prevent terrorists and hackers from exploiting information technology.
Regional cybersecurity experts have identified over 1,000 terrorist and hacker websites across Southeast Asia. Therefore, the need to research and apply solutions for countering online terrorism to protect digital assets has become urgent for governments in the region.
Malaysia announced the establishment of an Emergency Response Center aimed at assisting countries in the region in dealing with and recovering from cyberattacks on economic and trade systems. Leading cybersecurity companies such as Symantec Corp from the United States and Kaspersky from Russia are key partners of this center.
