KUALA LUMPUR (June 29): Interpol through its Project Pandora will be assisting five countries in South-East Asia including Malaysia in investigating bioterrorist-related activities using Darknet.
Interpol’s Bioterrorism Prevention Unit coordinator Adrien Sivignon said other beneficiaries of Project Pandora are Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
“We will be replicating the Project Pandora in the South-East Asia region by the first quarter of next year. We hope for further support from the countries to investigate the dark web, in order to stop illegal activities,” he said at a forum addressing “Criminal Use of New Technologies, the Dark Web”.
He was one of the panellists at the ASEAN Cyber Security Forum at the Cyber Defence and Security Exhibition and Conference (CYDES) 2021, held virtually today.
Interpol’s Bioterrorism Prevention Unit introduced Project Pandora to increase the capability of police and intelligence analysts to investigate bioterrorist-related activities using Darknet.
This is following the increased use of Darknet to acquire, transfer or smuggle biological materials or weapons that have since become a major concern for the law enforcement community worldwide.
Sivignon said they recognised the threats posed by the potential use of biological materials by non-state actors, usage of the web as a platform for illicit trade of biological materials and dual-use equipment, as well as addressing the technical challenges in investigating the web through the project.
The inaugural CYDES 2021 themed, “Embedding Resilience Within Our Cyberspace”, is being organised by the National Security Council (MKN) and National Cyber Security Agency (NASCA) from Monday, June 28 to Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
