The Lao Department of Cyber Security and the Australian Embassy to Laos conducted an employee development training on cyber security on Wednesday at the Lao National Internet Center in Vientiane Capital.
Australian Ambassador to Laos, Mr. Paul Kelly, and the Director-General of the Lao National Internet Centre, Mr. Keovisouk Solaphom co-chaired the training, which took place from 22 to 28 February.
Around 90 telecommunications professionals attended the training.
The course, entitled “Defensive Readiness and Cyber Security Exercise,” was the result of a partnership between Retrospect Labs and the Australian Government. The training seeks to provide critical infrastructure organizations with the right skills and knowledge to ensure they can better respond to a cyber security incident.
Mr. Keovisouk said during the training that the development of cyber security skills in human resources is important because the use of technology plays an important role in driving the country’s economy, and it is also a part of Laos’ ten-year Digital Economy Development Strategy (2021-2030).
He went on to say that a cyber-attack can cause significant damage to a country’s information system and digital infrastructures both locally and internationally.
Hence, this course will allow IT professionals to develop their skills to a higher degree. They’ll be able to describe, illustrate, elaborate, and apply what they have learned to assess various types of cyber-attacks, including ransomware viruses that can infiltrate a computer network.
This course is funded under the USD 232 million Mekong-Australia Partnership, which in Laos is also supporting public financial management reform efforts, environmental resilience, human resource development, and efforts to combat transnational crime.
According to an Australian Embassy spokesperson, the Australian Government welcomes the opportunity to work closely with Laos through these programs and looks forward to continuing to engage with Laos on cyber and critical tech issues to help build prosperity, stability, and resilience for both our countries.
