CAMBODIA (Syllabus GS Paper 1 & 3– Geography & Cyver security)

Context: Over 5,000 Indians are trapped in Cambodia, where they are allegedly being held against their will and forced to carry out cyber frauds on people back home.

Cambodia

• About: It is a country on the Indochinese mainland of Southeast Asia.
• Capital: Phnom Penh.
• Border: It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast.
• Coastline: It has a 443-kilometer coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.
• Geology: It includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta.
• India’s engagement: Cambodia is a part of the Mekong-Ganga initiative.

Mekong-Ganga initiative

• Established in: 2000 at Vientiane, Laos.
• Mandate: To facilitate closer contacts among people inhabiting Ganga and Mekong, the 2 major civilizational river basins.
• 6 members: India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (India + 5 ASEAN Countries/Mekong Basin Countries).
• Four areas of cooperation: Tourism, culture, education, and transportation.

Cyber Crime

• About: It is an illegal activity involving computers, the internet, or network devices. Cybercriminals commit identity theft, initiate phishing scams, spread malware, and instigate other digital attacks.
• Some examples of cybercrime include: 

oStealing and selling corporate data

oDemanding payment to prevent an attack

oInstalling viruses on a targeted computer

oHacking into government or corporate computers.