Australia, Indonesia strengthen cyber security ties
FORUM Staff
Australia and Indonesia intend to buttress bilateral efforts on cyber security to fight terrorism and transnational crime, an agreement reached following a ministerial council meeting on security and law in February 2017 in Jakarta.
It marked the first time cyber security had been included as a topic during such meetings, The Jakarta Post newspaper reported, where other counterterrorism issues discussed included deradicalization, cyber intrusion, and tracking down and preventing the funding of terrorism through online channels. The topic of cyber security was discussed during a December 2015 meeting, but no concrete measures had been initiated until this month’s assembly.
“One of the important agenda items of this council today and of the ongoing work between our agencies and our officials is to work together to choke off the flow of funds to terrorist organizations,” Australian Attorney-General George Brandis said, according to The Jakarta Post.
(Pictured: Australian Attorney-General George Brandis, left, and Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto speak with reporters after their meeting at the Ministerial Council Meeting on Law and Security in Jakarta in February 2017.)
Sometime in the coming months, Indonesian officials plan to travel to Australia and learn how they develop their cyber security policies and strategies.
Indonesian officials say money transfers have been instrumental in helping their nationals travel to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, The Straits Times newspaper reported. Many of these transactions have gone unnoticed by authorities. An agency that monitors and analyzes financial transactions detected a ruse to fund terrorism when tracing the origin of overseas money used to invest in businesses in Indonesia, according to The Straits Times. Authorities discovered that militants with ties to extremist organizations approached local entrepreneurs, became business partners, then used profits to finance terrorism.
“The terrorism funding may flow from anywhere, so we don’t want to be trapped in a blame game, making accusations about where the funds came from,” said former Indonesian military chief Gen. Wiranto, who goes by one name and currently serves as coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, according to The Straits Times. “We must have a common understanding about the importance of working together to combat these flows of funds.”
The two countries also announced they would launch a project later this year to enhance Indonesia’s ability to deter an increasing number of online threats, particularly those related to funding terrorism.
Also during the meeting, officials from both countries discussed maritime security and the importance of maintaining security and stability across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. They referred to themselves as “like-minded,” according to The Jakarta Post, when it came to their national views on upholding international rules that govern the maritime domain, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Indonesia and Australia have agreed to maintain regional stability together, especially to avoid conflict related to the South China Sea, which could disrupt relations between the countries and automatically disrupt the regional economy and security,” Wiranto said, according to The Jakarta Post.
Illicit drugs and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing also made the discussion list as key challenges facing Indonesia. Discussions on those topics are expected to continue when the ministerial council meets again later in 2017 in Australia.
