THE SECURITIZATION OF CYBER ISSUE IN ASEAN

This paper aims to explain the securitization of cyber issue in ASEAN. This is important because of the increase in trade, capital flows, and ASEAN‘s linkage in cyber generates vulnerability to them. Internet user in ASEAN active in e-commerce and social media platform is susceptible to the cyber threat. It becomes critical when the majority of ASEAN citizen do not aware of the cyber threat. This phenomenon requires the state to take action to protect the security of its citizen. Moreover, the gap in the development of information and technology infrastructure in ASEAN create more complexity. Securitization theory by Barry Buzan and Ole Waever applied in explaining this phenomenon. This paper employed a qualitative approach as methodology and the library research as a data collection technique. It concludes that securitization in ASEAN has not been successful, because only a few countries consider cybersecurity as a serious problem namely Singapore. Even though the cyber issue is one of the main issues on the international level and most of the ASEAN countries have experienced cyber threats. The majority of ASEAN countries still view the traditional issues like security and economy as main interest, although low politic issues like environmental, human rights, and social-culture are currently a concern of ASEAN the cyber issue still views as not important like other issues.