BRUNEI-MUARA

WITH the advancement of mobile broadband and widespread access to the Internet, children are vulnerable to becoming the victims of online crime.

To address this issue, the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) has drafted the Child Online Protection (COP) National Framework to protect the young and vulnerable.

Senior Manager of the Information Security Unit at AITI said in an interview yesterday that they have collaborated with several agencies and have been developing COP since 2012.

Hj Zailani Hj Abd Malik said that AITI aims to protect the children from becoming victims by making them aware of the dangers they might face on the Internet.

The use of social media is so prevalent in Brunei that some people post unnecessary information online without thinking through of the consequences, said Hj Zailani.

“Some people post “I am alone at home tonight” on their social media, and what they’re doing is openly informing people,” said Hj Zailani. “Criminals might take advantage of that information and make the house a target.”

The senior manager said that worse things could happen, as there have been cases of rape and sexual grooming of children, after contacting strangers they meet on the Internet.

However, cases such as cyber-bullying could do more damage to young children, said Hj Zailani. “Children might spread false information about someone they know, and it could cause the victim emotional troubles.”

He said that sedition, defaming someone online through the use of social media, is a serious offence. “We have the Sedition Act in Brunei, and you could get charged if you spread false information about someone.”

The Senior Manager said that more can be done to raise awareness of this matter to protect the children from becoming victims.

“It is not only the children, but parents who play an important role as well, especially in being aware of what their children are up to on the Internet.”

He said that AITI is planning on conducting several talks in the near future to help parents become more aware of cybersecurity and monitoring their children’s activity.

“Although there are tools for parents to monitor (online activity), no one actually bothers to monitor, and if some parents do monitor their children’s online activity, do they know what they should monitor?”

“Of course, parents would be able to monitor if their child accesses pornography and online gambling websites, but what if their children are hackers and attack secure systems such as what has happened overseas; this is much more difficult to monitor if parents are not aware.”

He said that under the COP National Framework, one of the approaches AITI is taking to raise awareness about cybersecurity is by raising awareness, among children in particular as they are the ones that are being targeted.

The senior manager said that AITI is synergising the efforts made by various agencies to raise people’s awareness of cybersecurity.

“We cannot control everything that is done on the Internet, so we have to make the public more aware of what is happening and change their habits on the internet.”

The Brunei Times