INGENIEUR
COVER FEATURE
Mitigating Cyber Threats
HACKERS
VIRUSES
CYBERATTACKS
IDENTITY THEFT
ESPIONAGE
Online
fraud,
system
intrusion, cyber espionage
and malware attacks are
amongst
cyber
threats
that are on the rise in
Malaysia.
CyberSecurity
Malaysia, a national cyber
security specialist is the
Government agency that
provides expertise and
technical services for the
public and private sectors
as well as the community to
mitigate such threats to the
country’s vital infrastructure
and economic growth.
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VOL 58 APRIL 2013 2014
VOL 55 JUNE – JUNE
W
ith the growing trend in ICT convergence,
many aspects of life are now played out
in cyberspace. A multitude of photos and
messages are exchanged on the mobile phone
every day. More and more money is transmitted
with a few computer clicks. It is thus not surprising
that unsavoury real world activity like crime is
also happening in the virtual world. According to
the Commercial Crime Division of Royal Malaysian
Police, RM1.8billion losses were recorded from
cybercrime or online cases in 2013.
For every investigation of cyber crime in
the news, there are hundreds that will never
make the headline. The exploitation of ICT has
also introduced new terms of crimes such as
hacking, phishing, spamming, web defacement,
cyber stalking, cyber harassment, botnet, malware
infection and others. In all cases, the criminal is a
subject to the full force of law. Taking cognisance of
this trend, Malaysia has taken steps to safeguard
the Government and the public against various
types of cyber threats.
In place are legislation related to cyber crime,
the National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP), and
CyberSecurity Malaysia, a specialist agency, under
the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology
and Innovation (MOSTI), which has technical
expertise in the defence of and security against
cyber threats.
Amongst cyber specific laws that address
specific issues relating to cyber matters, include:
Computer Crimes Act (CCA) 1997
●●
Digital Signature Act 1997
●●
Telemedicine Act 1997
●●
Communications and Multimedia Act
●●
(CMA) 1998
Optical Disk Act 2000
●●
Electronic Commerce Act 2006
●●
Electronic Government’s Activities Act
●●
2007
Personal Data Protection Act 2010
●●
For example, the CCA relates to misuse
of computers and offences are unauthorised
access to computer materials and unauthorised
modifications of content of any computer.