Cambodia to host international cybersecurity conference

26 Aug 2019 2133 | Business & Trade Fairs

Cyber experts from around the world will gather in Phnom Penh for the Cyber Security Asia Conference 2019. The two-day event, organised by Malaysian events professionals, Thomvell International, kicks off on November 4 offering insights into regional trends in cybersecurity and cybercrime.

This is a threat that transcends borders and has the potential to cause untold damage, both financially and socially, with more than 90 percent of Asia-Pacific business having been victim of a cyberattack, fuelling a regional cybersecurity industry reportedly worth $32.9 billion by 2019.

Within the Kingdom, the urgency is mounting and plans are being laid to strengthen national cybersecurity as well as protect against cyberattacks, with the Royal Government of Cambodia identifying cybersecurity as one of five priority areas to develop.

The government’s ICT Masterplan 2020 aims to address the Kingdom’s capacity for dealing with cybercrime and seeks to develop cybersecurity measures across all sectors and organisations in order to better counter the ever-evolving threats. It will call upon businesses, institutions and governmental agencies to apply best practices so as to avoid disaster.

According to Kaspersky Labs, last year alone, Cambodia witnessed 4,590,076 online cyberattacks that affected 30.5 percent of internet users, an increase of 2,835,938 from 2017’s attacks. This is in line with regional and global trends, but as the prevalence of cybercrime grows, many fear that governments, businesses and individuals are unprepared for the impact of these attacks.

As such, November’s Cyber Security Asia 2019 conference looks set to provide great insight into new potential threats and how to best defend against them, drawing on the expertise internationally renowned professionals from a range of fields.

The 20 guest speakers hail from Europe, the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, India, Israel and Australia, bringing a wealth of experience to Cambodia to address the urgent matter of cybersecurity. From Huawei to Interpol, representatives from civil society, government and across the private sector will attend to foster understanding of cybersecurity’s growing importance for the business community, as well as setting forth solutions applicable to various business models.

Among those speaking is Ou Phannarith, director of the ICT Security Department at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, who is expected to detail the challenges of Cambodia’s cybersecurity landscape as well as the implications this will have for the Kingdom’s shift to industry 4.0.

Noting that phishing scams, malware and DDoS attacks were all on the rise in Cambodia, the minister is expected to push for greater co-operation between Asia-Pacific nations to enhance capacity, co-ordination and capabilities to deal with new cyber challenges as they arise.