Tech gap hampers war on cyberterror

Tech gap hampers war on cyberterror

PHILIPPINES: Technology gaps among Southeast Asian nations are making it difficult for authorities to combat cyberterrorism, which has emerged as a new threat to regional security, experts said on Monday.

Speaking at an ASEAN forum on cyberterrorism in the central city of Cebu, Philippine commissioner for Information and Communications Technology, Tim Diaz de Rivera, said cyberterrorism was "transnational and borderless".

He said one of the problems facing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in any attempt to tackle the problem was the "technology gaps between member states".

The event is being attended by diplomats, cybersecurity and terrorism experts and officials from 25 countries or economies.

"While there is the bigger issue of bridging the various digital divide gaps between member states, there is also the need to bridge the capability gaps in protecting our respective information infrastructures from the awesome threat of cyberterrorism," Rivera told the forum.

The three-day forum aims to discuss and share information on national policies on cyberterrorism.

Cyberterrorism is an attack by individuals or groups on a country's computer infrastructure that could undermine security, similar to the I LOVE YOU virus created by a young Filipino hacker in 2000 that infected and compromised computer systems including that of the Pentagon. -- AFP