Australian Home Affair Minister Peter Dutto. (Photo: AAP) Sydney (VNA) – Australian HomeAffair Minister Peter Dutton on March 17 named use of encrypted messaging appsto plot terrorist attacks the greatest threat faced by intelligence agencies inmodern times in his remarks at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit that isunderway in Sydney.
The use of the “dark web” by extremists andother criminals is increasing, Dutton noted, adding that they are usingencrypted messaging apps to avoid detection by police and intelligenceagencies.
He stressed that the only way to tackle thethreat and the increasing use of the Internet by terrorist groups like IslamicState to radicalize and recruit new members was together.
It would be a mistake to approach the problemfrom a national perspective as terrorism and violent extremism transcendnational borders, the minister said. Countering the threat requires a unitedand cohesive regional effort involving coordination between national securityand law enforcement agencies, he added.
Australia has been helping Southeast Asianstates deal with terrorist financing and counter violent extremism.
The two sides signed a memorandum ofunderstanding at the summit, with an agreement to pool cyber intelligence andpolice resources across the region for the first time.
The ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, the firstof its kind, opened in Sydney on March 16, in the presence of Turnbull andleaders of ten ASEAN nations including Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Themed “Enhancing Regional Security and Prosperity”, the event is expected todiscuss issues related to regional security, economic relations as well ascounter-terrorism measures so as to further tighten the relationship betweenAustralia and ASEAN.
The ASEAN-Australia Business Summit, the International Counter-TerrorismConference and a plenary meeting of senior leaders are scheduled to take placewithin the framework of the three-day event.
ASEAN and Australia set up relations in 1974.Australia was the first nation establishing official dialogue partnership withASEAN in all three fields of politics, economics and specialisedcooperation.-VNA
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