Cambodia will strengthen measureccccs to ensure a safe digital future for its citizens by focusing more on cybersecurity and data protection, said Chea Vandeth, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.

Delivering his keynote address at the Amcham Cybersecurity 4.0 seminar recently, Vandeth said, “To keep up with the fast-moving technology, we are drafting a cyber security, cybercrime and personal data protection law.”

Pointing out that such a law is essential to safeguard the market and build confidence in the nation, he said, “The comprehensive cyber security guideline and technology framework are paramount in defending against sophisticated cyber security attacks like ransomware attacks or malware attacks.”

According to the estimates from Cybersecurity Ventures, the global cybercrime costs will grow by 15 percent per year over the next five years, reaching $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015.

In a recent KPMG survey of 500 CEOs, 18 percent said that cybersecurity risk would be the biggest threat to their organisation’s growth through 2024.

Highlighting the importance of businesses to have a presence in cyberspace, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19, the minister said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the workplace, promoting most organised enterprises to adopt work from home. Companies that could not make the shift will miss out on potential business opportunities.”

Stressing the significance of individuals, businesses and nations to take steps to safeguard against the threat of cyberattacks, he said, “The Cambodian government has prioritised quality infrastructures that support national capabilities such as energy, telecommunications, financial system, transportation, law enforcement security and other public essential services and utilities.”

Vandeth also stressed the need for all businesses to ensure that their employees have basic cybersecurity knowledge. “Training should be conducted to cement the importance of cybersecurity tools. Although we cannot eliminate the risk of cyberattacks, we must recognise that cyberattacks will increase our economic and political expenses.

The minister pointed out that protecting sensitive information has become crucial for individuals, small businesses, multinational companies, and government agencies.

“New emerging technologies also increase the need for more advanced cyber security capability across sectors. Addressing this need requires high quality, relevant education and branding, as well as strong partnerships between government organisations and academic institutions.”

While emphasising the need for Cambodia, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asean, to maintain its growth prospects effectively, Vandeth said, “Regulatory system alone will not eliminate our risk of cyberattacks. Cybersecurity will begin with all of us. All stakeholders must be vigilant and continue to learn and innovate in order to build a resilient cybersecurity ecosystem.”

AmCham Cambodia, which hosted the event at Raffles Hotel Le Royal, also held a panel discussion featuring Pol. Lieutenant  General Chea Peou, Director of Anti-Cybercrime Department, Ministry of Interior; Ainsley Jong, Goodwill Ambassador of Cambodia, CEO, Solutions for Asia; Kelvin Chin, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Industrial Cybersecurity, Honeywell; Kan Yang, Director of Innovation Solutions, Alibaba Cloud; and Vorleak Chhim, VP and Head of Data Protection, Acleda Bank.

Despite discussing the different threats regarding cyber security, the panel also answered several questions from AmCham members on various aspects of the issue and offered solutions. Pily Wong, Advisor of the Ministry of Interior, Governor of AmCham and CEO of MDP Cambodia, was the moderator of the discussion.

Meanwhile, Amcham president Anthony Galliano pointed out the alarming increase in cyberattack cases in the world recently.

“At the end of 2020 and into 2021, the SolarWinds hack was discovered, one of the biggest cybersecurity breaches of the 21st century.

Also in 2021, a hacking group found vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange that gave them access to the email accounts of at least 30,000 organisations in the US and 250,000 globally. In April, ransomware-as-a-service gang REvil hit Apple supplier Quanta with a $50 million ransomware attack. IBM X-Force estimates that REvil made at least $123 million in profits in 2020 and stole around 21.6 terabytes of data.

“No one is safe from the threat of cyber-attacks which include malware, denial of service attacks, password attacks, phishing, man-in-the-middle, and drive-by attacks. We live in an increasingly digital era and all use tech devices therefore we are highly likely to be exposed to cyber-attacks and need to be protected, and that’s where the importance and criticality of cyber security awareness come in.

Government officials, CEOs, country managers, directors, and other leaders from telecom, ISPs, banking, utilities, and infrastructure sectors attended the seminar.

According to a Gartner report, organisations worldwide are facing sophisticated ransomware, attacks on the digital supply chain and deeply embedded vulnerabilities. Peter Firstbrook, research vice-president at Gartner, said, “The pandemic accelerated hybrid work and the shift to the cloud, challenging CISOs to secure an increasingly distributed enterprise – all while dealing with a shortage of skilled security staff.”

Risks associated with the use of cyber-physical systems and IoT, open-source code, cloud applications, complex digital supply chains, social media and more have brought organisations’ exposed surfaces outside of a set of controllable assets, the report pointed out.

 

• Tags: personal data, telecommunications