KOTA KINABALU, Aug 11 — Malaysia recorded over 20,000 cyber crime cases last year with losses amounting to RM560 million, said deputy secretary-general (Security) of the Home Ministry Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman.
He said the cases recorded included cyberbullying, falsification, hacking, phishing and e-mail scams which were increasing each year.
“For the record, about 13,000 cybercrime cases with RM539 million in losses were recorded in 2019,” added Abdul Halim who did not give the figures for 2020.
“By 2025, the digital economy is expected to contribute about 22.6 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Therefore, in Malaysia’s effort to develop itself into a nation that is driven by the digital economy, we need to identify the threats with the potential to affect key targets and the economic sector in general.”
He was speaking at the officiation of the National-Level Key Targets Seminar 2022, representing Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin.
Key targets refer to the applications with the vital output or services that if destroyed or are in disrepair, could cause great losses to the country’s economy and defence, and also affect its image and government’s functions.
Abdul Halim said the need to have a safe and secure cyberspace today was vital to raise the cybersecurity agenda in the interest of the country’s key targets.
“It is important for the owners or occupants of the key targets to always focus or pay attention so as to ensure information security and are guarded for safety to ensure no information leaks, more so from inside the installations.
“Strong cybersecurity is important while Malaysia is heading towards Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) as this revolution fully depends on digital technology and any issue involving security can have an impact on the government, the country, social sphere and the community.
“While we move forward and live with technology while smart cities are being built and critical data sent to the database using the Internet, the issue of cyber security should be placed at the forefront in the digital ecosystem,” he added.
— Bernama
