2015 ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM WORK PLAN ON SECURITY OF AND
IN THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGIES
Adopted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 August 2015
BACKGROUND
The Work Plan has been developed following the adoption of the Statement on Cooperation in Ensuring
Cyber Security by the ARF Foreign Ministers at the 19th ARF Ministerial Meeting, 12 July 2012, Phnom
Penh. The Statement sets out a number of measures to intensify regional cooperation. Ministers
requested “a work plan on security in the use of ICTs focused on practical cooperation on confidence
building measures”. This plan gives effect to that request and is a step towards the implementation of
Ministerial statement of 2012. As set out in the Chairman’s Statement of the 21st ARF Ministerial
Meeting on 10 August 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw, Ministers tasked officials to submit the plan to the 22nd
ARF Ministerial Meeting in 2015.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Work Plan is to promote a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative ICT environment
and to prevent conflict and crises by developing trust and confidence between states in the ARF region,
and by capacity building.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the work plan are to:
(a)
promote transparency and develop confidence building measures to enhance the
understanding of ARF Participating Countries in the ICT environment with a view to reducing the risk of
misperception, miscalculation and escalation of tension leading to conflict;
(b)
raise awareness on threats related to the security of and in the use of ICTs;
(c)
enhance practical cooperation between ARF Participating Countries to protect ICT-enabled
critical infrastructure with the view to also developing resilient government ICT environments; and
(d)
Improve cooperation including develop regional capacity to respond to criminal and terrorist
use of ICTs through improved coordination and coordinated response.
RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORK PLAN ON COUNTER TERRORISM AND TRANSNATIONAL
CRIME (CTTC)
The Work Plan is a living document. It forms part of the CTTC Work Plan.
The ARF Unit will review its implementation progress annually and report to the Inter-sessional Meeting
on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime and to the Inter-sessional Support Group on Confidence
Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy. The work plan shall be reviewed initially three years after
its adoption.
UNOFFICIAL TEXT · CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW · www.cil.nus.edu.sg