[ISN] ASEAN cyber terrorism experts open forum in Cebu

[InfoSec News]

http://www.tempo.com.ph/news.php?aid=16816

By MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR.
October 04, 2005

CEBU CITY - Media practitioners were barred from entering the function
room where diplomats, cyber security and terrorism experts and policy
level officials from 25 nations converged to begin the three-day "2nd
ASEAN Regional Forum Seminar on Cyber-terrorism."

Aside from Asean countries, representatives from the United States,
Australia Japan New Zealand are also present in the forum as
observers.
   
Behind closed doors, participants openly discussed and shared
information and ideas on national policies on cyber terrorism and
encouraged ARF participating countries to continuously cooperate and
collaborate with each other in effectively addressing diverse cyber
related threats and cyber terrorism.
   
A source said that aside from the recommendations on anti-cyberterror
and e-counter terrorism, each participating ARF country were asked to
come up with a program that will be submitted to the ARF Ministers, it
is hoped that a network of contacts will be developed, enlarged, and
continuously updated.
 
The three-day seminar aims to build and nurture a level of trust and
confidence that will enable continued information sharing and related
communications long after the seminar is over. The ARF network on the
other hand, can be used as an important conduit for the flow of
information that can be used in our daily flight against terror and
actual cyber-terrorism-induced crisis situations.
   
The 1st ARF seminar on cyber terrorism was held in Jeju Island, Korea
on November 13-15 last year that was co-chaired by the Republic of
Korea and the Philippines. The forthcoming second ARF seminar is a
follow up forum that will take off from the discussions and
recommendations put forward during the first seminar on
cyber-terrorism.
   
The ARF ministers during the 11th ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial
Meeting in Jakarta on July 2 last year highlighted the need for a
greater regional cooperation to counter terrorism particularly in the
area of law enforcement and intelligence sharing and to address the
emotional and psychological reasons behind extremism and terrorism.  
One of the measures approved by the ARF ministers is a series of ARF
seminars and workshops on counter-terrorism.