https://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/mi ... arks-fearsThe government has ordered all domestic and international internet traffic in the Kingdom to pass through a Data Management Centre (DMC) that has been newly created by the state-owned Telecom Cambodia, in a move some have claimed is an attempt to censor government critics.
Spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Phay Siphan, said that he “was unaware” of the matter and referred all questions to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.
Meas Po, spokesman for the Telecommunications Ministry, declined to comment.
A letter dated May 2 and signed by Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers Khem Russida and made available to The Post, says the move follows a request by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Prime Minister Hun Sen.
According to the letter, the policy will require all domestic and international data to be transmitted through the Telecom Cambodia’s DMC.
The change effectively means Telecom Cambodia will monitor all data transmitted through the DMC with effect from the third quarter of this year.
“The government has decided that, in principle, the domestic and international network traffic of all telecommunications operators in the country will pass through Telecom Cambodia’s DMC,” the letter says.
“The data transit price has been set at one cent a minute for telecom operators so as to stabilise the state’s revenue from the telecommunications sector.” It said the creation of the DMC will be made known through an interministry announcement by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Economic and Finance in the third quarter of 2018.
The director of the Cambodian Centre for Applied Philosophy and Ethics, Pa Chanroeun, said: “We have seen the announcement, but it lacks detailed information on why the government is demanding that internet traffic must pass through a DMC belonging to the state.
“If this new measure serves to prevent security attacks and cyber crime then it is a good move as we have seen online fraud committed in Cambodia. But if it is to assist the government in effectively monitoring data transmitted through the internet then it is a threat to the rights and freedoms of its users.”
He said that having discussed the matter with a group of around 80 young people at a forum on Saturday, the majority of them expressed “grave concerns” over freedom of expression.
“They said they might be forced to carry out self-censorship, and feared for their safety when sharing news and information on Facebook, or even clicking ‘like’ on the social media pages of opposition parties and those opposed to the government,” Chanroeun said.
Is the internet the next thing to go?
Is the internet the next thing to go?
Massive stalker
- violet
- Suspicious Little Mad Woman
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It has been my expectation that the internet here will be severely limited. The above has been on the cards for awhile now. I actually expected it sooner.
Internet will be available for business purposes.
Internet will be available for business purposes.
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch
- Plutarch
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- I have Cheap Mobile Internet
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I doubt they have the capacity and knowledge to pull off a thing like this and am afraid they will rely on the Chinks.
So not only the Khmer government but likely the Chinese will have full control over your traffic as well (and any hacker able to breach the DMC). Nothing stops them from:
A. Blocking connections
B. Eavesdropping on plaintext traffic
C. Gaining access to confidential communications (MiTM HTTPS)
D. Blocking secure communications (VPN's / Tor / Proxies / Various messengers / etc.)
E. Tracking users
F. Injecting evil network payloads
(Example: "Chinese ISPs Caught Injecting Ads and Malware into Web Pages"
Src. https://thehackernews.com/2016/02/china ... lware.html)
They could do the same to legitimate downloads or updates to obtain code execution and infiltrate your network.
This DMC won't do much good, maybe scrub some Denial of Service attempts, portscans and spam.
If companies want to stay secure they need to start educate their users and invest in decent security. If that is deemed too expensive ensure to have DR and BCP in place to deal with a successful breach.
Unfortunately it is still pretty easy to breach the average company.
Critical infrastructure should get supported by government. Unfortunately they seem to lack manpower.
A CERT would be crucial to help detect and respond on regional/national threats but last time I looked their site was breached and inactive.
Educate the general public about common scams, frauds / attacks and basic cyber hygiene / financial education. Greed is a powerful incentive .... see the many ponzi schemes and such over recent years.
So not only the Khmer government but likely the Chinese will have full control over your traffic as well (and any hacker able to breach the DMC). Nothing stops them from:
A. Blocking connections
B. Eavesdropping on plaintext traffic
C. Gaining access to confidential communications (MiTM HTTPS)
D. Blocking secure communications (VPN's / Tor / Proxies / Various messengers / etc.)
E. Tracking users
F. Injecting evil network payloads
(Example: "Chinese ISPs Caught Injecting Ads and Malware into Web Pages"
Src. https://thehackernews.com/2016/02/china ... lware.html)
They could do the same to legitimate downloads or updates to obtain code execution and infiltrate your network.
This DMC won't do much good, maybe scrub some Denial of Service attempts, portscans and spam.
If companies want to stay secure they need to start educate their users and invest in decent security. If that is deemed too expensive ensure to have DR and BCP in place to deal with a successful breach.
Unfortunately it is still pretty easy to breach the average company.
Critical infrastructure should get supported by government. Unfortunately they seem to lack manpower.
A CERT would be crucial to help detect and respond on regional/national threats but last time I looked their site was breached and inactive.
Educate the general public about common scams, frauds / attacks and basic cyber hygiene / financial education. Greed is a powerful incentive .... see the many ponzi schemes and such over recent years.
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- I have some social problems
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I agree with violet that I am surprised it hasn't happened sooner, perhaps it has taken this long through lack of resources.
I also agree that it will be at least partly funded and beneficial to the Chinese.
On the plus side it is still less restricted than the neighbouring countries, at least for now.
I also agree that it will be at least partly funded and beneficial to the Chinese.
On the plus side it is still less restricted than the neighbouring countries, at least for now.
- violet
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Gosh, the average company in the west needs a DR and BCP that is updated to include cyber security issues. The average staff member needs awareness training, and the average member of the general public is not aware of all the ways something could easily be compromised. If Cambodia can achieve that anytime soon, I'll be impressed.kiiniaew wrote:I
...
I agree about China.
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.
- Plutarch
- Plutarch
Maybe it has been up and running silently for a few months? Who knows... Hard to believe they will only start using it after the elections.ReasonstobefearfulP3 wrote:I agree with violet that I am surprised it hasn't happened sooner, perhaps it has taken this long through lack of resources.
I also agree that it will be at least partly funded and beneficial to the Chinese.
On the plus side it is still less restricted than the neighbouring countries, at least for now.
It is important to remember when the government speaks about controlling the Internet that the government does not control the Internet.
Nobody is going to MiTM Facebook HTTPS and even if they tried the Facebook app and Messenger wouldn't function with it and no Cambodian dissident accesses Facebook in a browser. Apply the same logic on other popular services accordingly.
Don't worry.
Nobody is going to MiTM Facebook HTTPS and even if they tried the Facebook app and Messenger wouldn't function with it and no Cambodian dissident accesses Facebook in a browser. Apply the same logic on other popular services accordingly.
Don't worry.
2 years agoali baba wrote:I haven't registered my phone number yet.
When did that law come into effect?
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