The government should take initiative to introduce IT audit and software testing certification to prevent future losses caused by cyber attacks, said speakers yesterday.
Speakers also mentioned that there is a lack of coordination between the government agencies in taking measures against the cyber security issues.
They made the remarks while speaking at different sessions on the first day of a two-day workshop on "Digital Bangladesh: Focusing on Cybercrime, Safe Internet and Broadband" at a hotel in the capital.
“To ensure cyber security, especially in financial sector, we need to ensure IT auditing regularly and start a process of software testing and standardisation certification,” said Tarique Barkatullah, director of national data centre at Bangladesh Computer Council.
Tarana Halim, state minister for post and telecommunications, said various government organisations are working on cyber security issues but there is no coordination between them as they are working separately. “We need to talk to each other and make decisions together,” said Tarana.
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), in collaboration with Telecommunication Division and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) jointly organised the workshop.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury inaugurated the event.
CTO Secretary General Shola Taylor, BTRC acting chairman Md Ahsan Habib Khan, and Rakibul Hassan, a director of National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre, among others, spoke.
GOVT TO SIT WITH FACEBOOK THIS MONTH
On the sideline of the programme, Tarana Halim said the government will sit with social media giant Facebook within this month to stop the spread of “offensive and objectionable content” in the country.
Social media sites have their own policies and guidelines and each country also has its own, she said.
Therefore, it has to be ensured that the policies of social media sites do not contradict our social norms, laws and values, Tarana said.
Tarana also demand that Facebook open a separate desk for Bangladesh where complaints lodged by the Bangladesh government can be quickly processed.
The government also met the Facebook authorities last year. Following that, Facebook takes 48 hours to respond to complaints lodged by the government.
There is a tendency among the young generation to look for 'likes' and thus, they do not focus on the content, which is sometimes objectionable, the minister said, adding, “We need to create awareness among people on the use of internet.”