Book: "Cyber Threat!: How to Manage the Growing Risk of Cyber Attacks" - By MacDonnell Ulsch

A New Indonesia Military Boost Near the South China Sea?

Indonesian navy vessels at dock, Natuna Island.

Image Credit: Victor Robert Lee

The country’s defense minister says it will strengthen its air defenses “to be prepared.”

Earlier this week, the Indonesian defense minister said that the country would boost its defenses near the South China Sea in anticipation of future threats.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said that Indonesia will equip the Natuna islands near the South China Sea with a port and extend its military air base runway so that it can accommodate more planes. He also added that more jet fighters would be stationed at the Ranai military air base in Natuna.

“We are not in a war situation, but the South China Sea is very close to us,” Ryamizard added. “We have to be prepared. Our weapon systems are good, but we need to add more so that we don’t need to worry all the time.”

US and China officials talk cybersecurity after Obama's warning about attacks

 

Susan Rice with Fan Changlong at the Chinese Ministry of National Defense in Beijing on August 28 during a visit aimed at resolving tensions over cyber attacks. Talks between US and China officials have continued in Washington. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AFP/Getty Images

Four days of talks wrap up to help prepare for president Xi Jinping’s visit later this month including a ‘frank and open exchange’ about thorny cyber issues

Senior US and Chinese officials have met to discuss cybersecurity and other issues ahead of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington later this month.

Cybersecurity is a thorny topic between the two powers and China has long been blamed for cyber attacks on US commercial interests and sensitive government personnel records.

The discussions included a “frank and open exchange about cyber issues” between the president’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, and Meng Jianzhu, a senior Communist party secretary for political and legal affairs, the White House said.

Buku: E-Government: From Vision to Implementation

What is holding up Philippines' e-government?

If you lament the slow-moving traffic in the Philippines, you shouldn’t feel impatient with other things that may move even slower in this country when it has something to do with public administration and governance.

Next to the snail’s pace in the delivery of justice in this country, we nominate the formation of an overseer for information and communications technology (ICT) as the next worst.

Now over a decade in the making, the establishment of a government body that would be in charge of developing, planning, and promoting the government’s ICT agenda is still in limbo despite being tagged as a priority measure. How difficult can this task be?

On closer scrutiny, this is a case where the horses are running full speed ahead, except someone forgot to hitch them to the chariot. We have individual ICT programs for most government agencies that thinks it needs one.

Data dangers: Can data be too open?

It's a sunny day and canoeists across England head for the nearest river. Before setting out, they check an app that tells them how fast that river is flowing. Too swiftly or too slowly? Then perhaps they'll head to the beach, checking an app for bathing water quality. Afterwards they might relax with a glass of English wine, much improved since growers have been able to identify the most propitious soils in which to plant their vines.

This is the kind of scenario that environment secretary Liz Truss hopes will unfold as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) rolls out its Open Data initiative. It is, she claims, the biggest single government "data give-away". By making 8,000 data sets available to the public, the government says it will make it easier for people to experience the countryside and improve the environment, and save money for businesses.