Relevant ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and ASEAN-led mechanisms have been working on cyber security issues, namely the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN) and the ASEAN Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting (ADGSOM) as its subsidiary body, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the AMMTC, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus, and the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD).

On the area of cybercrime, ASEAN specifically enhanced its cooperation through its inclusion as one of ten areas of cooperation under SOMTC in 2001. The SOMTC Working Group on Cybercrime (WG on CC) serves as a platform for discussions on practical cooperation in combating cybercrime among the ASEAN Member States and with ASEAN Dialogue Partners. The ASEAN-Japan Counter Terrorism Dialogue (AJCC) has also served as a senior officials’ platform for discussion between ASEAN and Japan on issues and projects relevant to cybercrime since 2014.

Recognising the need to address the rapid growth of cyber-security threats, the ARF established the ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Security of and in the Use of ICTs in 2017. It serves as a specific platform for ARF Participants to promote mutual understanding as well as to discuss and coordinate ARF’s efforts on ICTs security, to implement the ARF Work Plan on Security of and in the Use of ICTs as well as to enhance trust and confidence through capacity building whilst ensuring that in the conduct of its activities, the ARF ISM on ICTs Security will not duplicate the ongoing efforts of ICT security initiatives in other ASEAN led mechanisms. To guide the work of the ISM on ICTs Security, the ARF Work Plan on Security of and in the Use of ICTs was adopted in 2015. It serves to promote a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative ICT environment and to develop transparency and confidence-building measures to prevent conflict in cyberspace between states in the ARF region through capacity building. For more information, please visit the ARF website at http://aseanregionalforum.asean.org/