## 6 Discussion
### Regional Governance of Threats to Maritime Security  
A detailed discussion of the domestic approaches of each of the littoral states to maritime security and cybersecurity is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, this section discusses the regional cooperative efforts to secure shipping through the SOMS and some major developments in the governance structures of the littorals. Significant progress in regional cooperative measures for maritime security has been made in the past two decades, since the Malacca Strait Patrols (MSP, originally named MALSINDO) began operations in 2004 [81]. The MSP entails coordinated naval patrols, Eyes in the Sky (EiS) aerial surveillance, and intelligence exchange and sharing. This collective approach to maritime security was praised in 2008 by then-IMO Secretary-General [PERSON] as \"a model to emulate in addressing the Gulf of Aden piracy problems. This acolade was also echoed by the US Pacific Command in 2012\" [82]. In 2022, Indonesia's foreign minister [PERSON] stressed the need to enhance maritime cooperation through the ASEAN Maritime Outlook (AMO) [69]. Indonesia has also been instrumental in driving the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum (ACGF) [83]. Indonesia, often criticised for a lack of inter-agency coordination and cooperation between its maritime security authorities [84], is in the process of revising the legal basis of its Coast Guard agencies, that is Badan Keamanan Laut (BAKAMLA), a non-ministerial agency reporting directly to the president; and the Kesatuan Penjagana Laut dan Pantai (KPLP), a maritime security agency within the Ministry of Transportation [68]. The current administration supports a revision to Law Number 32 of 2014 on Maritime Affairs which would make the KPLP subordinate to BAKAMLA and consolidate the position of BAKAMLA as the lead agency for maritime security [84]. This appears to be a positive development in streamlining Indonesia's approach to maritime security governance. And could create a \"single point of contact\" for inter-regional or ASEAN-based cooperation on maritime security issues. On this point, a roundtable participant commented on the need for \"a national single point of contact in each ASEAN country\" [68] to simplify and streamline regional cooperation initiatives. However, another participant cautioned of the difficulty of achieving this due to competing interests and approaches from multiple stakeholder agencies. There is currently no regional framework to specifically address maritime cybersecurity; however, multiple sources confirmed in interview that cybersecurity has received considerable attention from the government agencies mentioned above in the three littoral states. The BAKAMLA, for example, confirmed in interview that \"in 2021 cybersecurity was added to the nine threat types that we focus on\" and furthered the intention to strengthen regional cooperation through the ACCGF, which was seen as a truly regional initiative [66]. On the question of cyber threats to the maritime sector, including ports, an interviewee from the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) commented on their discussions with port operators:  
One of their main concerns is on phishing threats, especially cyber terror and hacktivism, hacktivism towards the navigational systems, just like I've mentioned before, there's a future adoption of the MASS and also fully autonomous ERTG [Electrified Rubber Tire Gantry Cranes] and also E-Prime-movers in port activities. So, the hacktivism has become one of the major threats that might be very impactful towards the port activities and also the recent vessel traffic in the Strait of Malacca [85]. Hence \"cybersecurity especially in the maritime domain has become one of the main concerns\" of the Malaysian Marine Department, especially with regard to the Vessel Traffic System (VTS) in the straits of Malacca and the implementation of Maritime Autonomous Surface Vessels (MASS) and automated port operations, for example in Tanjung Pelepas [85].