e-Cop.net endorsed by the e-ASEAN Task Force
Region’s first certified information security services provider to support e-ASEAN Task Force as it develops ASEAN-wide info-security programme
SINGAPORE, 21 November 2002 – Government officials representing the 10 countries in ASEAN met for four days this week in Singapore to hear from information and communications technologies (ICT) industry leaders, various ASEAN government agencies and ICT educators. Delegates aim to design and implement an effective, transborder e-government framework for the management of ICT and cyber law throughout the region.
The e-government initiative – known as e-ASEAN – is spearheaded by the e-ASEAN Task Force, a committee launched in 1999 by the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) governments to oversee the creation of a unified approach to information management, infrastructure development, information-security and cyber law in ASEAN. A coherent strategy for ICT developed by the e-ASEAN Task Force (e-ATF) will be adopted by ASEAN in an effort to ensure that its respective governments and constituents abide by ratified policies that govern info-security and prevention of cybercrime, privacy and consumer protection, and the protection of intellectual property.
e-Cop.net addresses e-ASEAN Executive Seminar on e-Government
Eddie Chau, e-Cop.net’s President and CEO, addressed ASEAN delegates on 18 November 2002 on the current information security environment, highlighting the ongoing proliferation of hacking incidents in the region. Chau encouraged the e-ATF to take proactive and far-reaching measures by designing a comprehensive and sustainable info-security programme for the region based on the adoption of universally recognised best practices for info-security. Chau also underscored the need for a pragmatic and deliberate approach to the development of a regional e-security programme that will suit the needs of all member countries.
“A comprehensive and definitive info-security infrastructure, developed around tried and proven industry standards and services, will ensure that ASEAN’s e-government initiatives meet the core e-commerce competencies of confidentiality, integrity and availability,” noted Chau. “Doing so will build trust in the programme and between ASEAN e-government communities as they work together to thwart cyber crime in Southeast Asia.”
Pointing to codes of best practice, such as those set out in ISO 17799/BS 7799, Chau advised that it is only a matter of time before all government agencies are required to subscribe to a standard certification platform to ensure that all e-commerce transactions are suitably secured. This e-governance platform, which Chau believes should be built around a formal Information Security Management System (ISMS), will define scope, prioritise requirements and assign responsibility to the many facets of e-government info-security.
e-Cop.net receives e-ASEAN Pilot Project Accreditation
Chau’s presentation followed on the heels of the company’s endorsement by the e-ASEAN Task Force committee that met in Bangkok on 19 October 2002 for its pilot project titled, “e-ASEAN National e-Security Defence Strategy.” The project aims to facilitate:
the development of a knowledge-based society among ASEAN communities through the provision of a holistic approach to information security, encouraging Internet-related activities and e-commerce transactions in the region,
the adoption of a proven and robust technology and service platform, nurturing intra-ASEAN initiatives and activities, and
the adoption of best practices in the field of info-security management through e-Cop.net’s BS 7799 certified processes and ISMS.
The e-ATF info-security pilot project developed by e-Cop.net sets out considerations and recommendations for optimising privacy and protection of intellectual property residing on Internet-connected network environments. Chau stressed that several components must be implemented to work in concert to manage the forensics processes necessary to identify and isolate cyber criminals, including the establishment of 24X7 managed monitoring services for tracking and tracing of malicious hackers, the enactment and enforcement of binding cross-border cyber laws, and the cooperation of all ASEAN members for the arrest and prosecution of cyber criminals.
“Info-security governance is the key to transborder protection,” Chau told delegates. “Without a common platform of understanding, agreement and law in ASEAN, cyber criminals will simply set up shop in countries with lax attitudes and penalties. As a growing ICT hub, ASEAN can no longer afford to approach e-security on an ad hoc basis.”
Given the accreditation as an endorsed pilot e-ATF project, e-Cop will receive the full support from ASEAN member countries and inclusion in missions to ASEAN dialogue partner countries. To learn more about the e-ASEAN initiative and the e-ASEAN Task Force, visit www.e-aseantf.org . For more information on e-government topics, issues and Mr Chau’s presentation slides from the Executive Seminar, visit the e-ASEAN Task Force and partners’ online resource centre, Developing e-Government in the Asia Pacific, at www.egovaspac.org .