KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said cyber terrorism on the Internet is threatening the world with forces so powerful it leaves behind nothing but destruction.

He said the love bug computer virus, for example, was able to penetrate the world's most technologically sophisticated systems and dealt major problems to these networks.

Speaking at the 14th Asia-Pacific Roundtable here, he said the havoc wreaked by the virus and its variants alone was estimated to cost as much as US$10bil (RM38bil) across the globe.

"The freedom of the Internet is cherished and lauded. The liberals will have you believe that any restriction to the flow of the Internet is an affront to the spread of knowledge.

"And yet we have seen the destruction wreaked by the love bug and the hacking of popular e-commerce portals. We have seen how blueprints for making bombs can be downloaded on the Net. We have seen the anomie that has affected the cyber generation hooked on destructive web games.

Abdullah said while globalisation had brought freer flow of goods, services, funds and information to developing countries, the process had also caused negative aspects which included the destruction of capital market systems, cultural clashes and the weakening of growing states.

Abdullah said there should be a better spread of the benefits of globalisation process and the regulation of capital markets so that its volatility could be checked.

"Liberalisation should proceed in tandem with the strengthening of domestic financial institutions, regulations and rules.

"The developing countries must be accorded an equitable presence in the global economic process, while the domestic and international governance systems must adapt to a globalised environment more effectively,'' Abdullah added.

The conference, organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, ends tomorrow.