Southeast Asian countries have reiterated the need for multilateral cooperation to strengthen the region’s cyber defences, with Singapore now home to a physical site for the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT).
ASEAN Regional CERT was officially established launched Wednesday during the 9th ASEAN Cybersecurity Ministerial Meeting to be held in conjunction with Singapore International Cyber Week 2024. The ministerial meeting will bring together telecommunications and cybersecurity ministers from 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. .
The new physical CERT will be funded by Singapore, the current chair of the ASEAN Digital Ministers Conference, and will be hosted for up to 10 years. According to Singapore’s Cyber Security Authority (CSA), operating costs for regional CERTs are expected to total $10.1 million over 10 years.
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The virtual ASEAN CERT was launched in October 2022 and operated as a platform for analysts and incident responders from member countries.
Since then, Singapore has worked with ASEAN member states to establish an operational framework that outlines the objectives and mechanisms of the regional CERT. The facility aims to further facilitate information sharing on cyber threats and online fraud among ASEAN member states.
Regional CERTs operate eight core functions, including developing and maintaining a regional point of contact network of cybersecurity experts and organizations, supporting national CERT capacity building and best practice exchange in member countries; I’m doing it.
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According to CSA, it will also serve as a dedicated space for in-person activities such as cyber exercises and the CERT-CERT Cyber Capacity Building Program.
“The cyber threat landscape continues to evolve, with ransomware attacks and other cybercrime activities becoming a high-profile challenge in the region.” said Josephine Theo, Minister of Digital Development and Information;
“New groups like RansomHub and Brain Cipher have emerged and rapidly gained notoriety by engaging in ‘big game hunting’ and targeting high-profile victims for successful compromises,” Smart Nation and Cyber said Mr Teo, who is also the Minister for Security. . “Government agencies and services are important targets because of their potential for significant notoriety and reward given their impact on broader society.”
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He added that ASEAN faces similar challenges, noting that the region’s digital economy is projected to grow from $300 million to $1 trillion by 2030. She also said the country’s total population is around 700 million people, a significant proportion of whom are young, educated and online – knowledgeable individuals and a growing middle class.
Additionally, ASEAN member states, which are early adopters of the latest technology, must manage a significantly expanded attack surface. “We are confident that if we come together, we can strengthen our cyber defenses and secure our digital future,” Mr Teo said.
In this regard, the group has formally endorsed the ASEAN Norms Implementation Checklist, which he touted as the first of its kind.
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”[This] “This builds on broader United Nations efforts to implement non-binding voluntary norms on the responsible conduct of States in the use of ICT,” Mr Teo said. “We have identified practical steps that can be considered when implementing the Code and corresponding capacity building.” It is an activity that can be adapted to meet standards. ”
CSA and the United Nations Office on Disarmament have launched a Code Implementation Checklist initiative. This follows ASEAN’s commitment to adhere in principle to the 11 norms of responsible conduct of states in cyberspace. These are from the 2015 Consensus Report of the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts.
The actionable items for each code are outlined across five pillars: policy, operations, technology, law and diplomacy.
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No country can tackle cybersecurity challenges in silos. Theo said.. cyber threats [are] borderless, [and] international cooperation is essential in [the] She said efforts are continuing to build a trusted cyberspace. “Cyber diplomacy is essential, especially in difficult times like these,” she added.
In his speech at the conference, Malaysia’s Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo also emphasized the importance of building trust not only within the devices a user owns, but also within the ecosystem, which includes platforms, apps and services.
“Every time you send a message on WhatsApp, order a Grab ride, or add to your cart on Shopee, you trust a complex web of technology to work seamlessly and securely to help you every step of the way. We expect to be protected from risks,” Govind said.
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“The recent CrowdStrike outage is a prime example of how easily this trust can be eroded. A single code brought down the networks of hospitals, banks, and airlines around the world. And this was caused by a malicious attacker. Now imagine what could be malicious. As the world’s digital footprint expands, attackers have an expanding attack surface. could be used,” he said.
He called for stronger standards to make devices and apps more secure to create a trusted digital world. For example, he said, valid digital certificates ensure the security and authenticity of digital interactions.
Potential risks from artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (gen AI) must also be addressed.
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Mr Govind noted that Malaysia will launch a National AI Secretariat in November to develop necessary safeguards and frameworks to facilitate the adoption of sustainable and ethical AI practices.
“While this law and regulation forms the foundation of digital trust in Malaysia, data protection and security are not ends in themselves,” he said, adding that data needs to be protected to facilitate its use. He added that there is.
To facilitate this, the ministry will introduce a data sharing bill that will create a regulatory framework for sharing public sector data, he revealed.
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The Malaysian government plans to further bridge various initiatives under a new body called the Digital Trust and Safety Commission, which will be tasked with managing digital trust, security and data governance in the country.
With Malaysia also assuming the ASEAN chair next year, Govind reiterated the region’s “common purpose” of building a trusted digital ecosystem that benefits all member states.
