Laos’ Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is working in collaboration with Portcullis Technologies Singapore in the development of the nation’s cyber protection.
A seminar on a new paradigm in Cyber Protection’ was held at the National Conference Centre in Vientiane on Thursday and attended by Director General of Planning and Cooperation Department, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Mr Phoukhong Chithoublok, Managing Director of Portcullis Technologies Singapore, Mr Max Lee and other officials.
The event demonstrated the importance of addressing cyber security, cyber protection in modern business, trends of cyber security and how Laos can leverage the new paradigm in combating and mitigating the cyber threat.
The initiative is in line with the national ICT Vision 2030 and ICT Five Year Strategic Development Plan which aim to advance the adoption of emerging ICT for sustainable development, ensure secure information sharing and data protection, and a safe online environment.
With the increasing complexity of cyber security threats that modern business faces today, the oversimplified approach of detection and removal needs to be overhauled, with a rethink for a more effective strategy.
During the seminar, guest speakers from Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia also shared their knowledge on cyber security related issues.
Acting Director General of Lao Computer Emergency Response Team (LaoCERT), Mr Khamla Sounnalat, highlighted there were now 2,611,141 actual internet users in Laos with 2,583,358 using 3G and 4G internet connections.
The Lao government has prioritised the promotion of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector as the engine for socio-economic development.
This includes establishing new laws, regulations, decrees and related legislation for governing and managing the development and usage of the ICT sector as well as creating the cyber security policy in order to protect Critical National Information Infrastructure.
LaoCERT has become a fully operational, trusted channel among the ICT sectors providing alert warnings, incident responses and cyber security advisory. Mr Phoukhong Chithoublok said Laos’ Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is committed to fulfilling its international obligations in the order to address these global challenges and we are working hard in building a safe and secure ICT infrastructure and services in our own country.
He stressed the ministry also had LaoCERT to coordinate national efforts in cyber security and they had successfully promulgated cyber crime law and were now working on the draft of the national cyber policy.
Meanwhile, Mr Max Lee said Portcullis Technologies will share a new and effective approach to overcome these challenges, in partnership with the reputable Lao-based ICT System Integrator, Datacom Corporation Ltd. This initiative is an important collaborative initiative to introduce uniquely differentiated cyber security training and consultancy for both information technology and operational technology related critical infrastructure in Lao PDR.
The public-private partnership in cyber security was proven to be a formidable contributor to Laos’ ICT industry. They would bring cyber security experts from the region to Laos to provide training and certification thereby boosting the local pool of cyber security professionals.
Source: Vientiane Times
