Malaysia’s cyber defences ready for Independence Day

Sunday, 5 February 2012

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Government Security

By Robin Hicks | 23 August 2010

There is one week to go before Hari Medeka, Malaysia’s Independence Day celebrations (August 31st), which last year were blighted by attacks by Indonesian hackers on Malaysian web sites. In an interview with FutureGov, the head of national security agency CyberSecurity Malaysia revealed how the government has been securing its cyber borders.

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Lt. Col. Husin Jazri (retired), CEO, CyberSecurity Malaysia, said that there was no evidence to suggest that there would be a repeat of the incident in 2009, which he called an “isolated case”. Indonesian hackers attacked more than 120 web sites as retribution for Malaysia’s alleged theft of Indonesian cultural items and abuse of migrant workers.

“Our efforts to strengthen our cyber defences are part of a continuous process – they are not geared specifically for the upcoming Independence Day,” Husin said. “We have just concluded the third National Cyber Crisis Exercise (on 5th August 2010) in order to enhance our readiness against any possible cyber attack.”

Raising awareness of cyber security issues and capacity building have been key focus areas of the agency, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI).

Crucially, the agency’s approach to cyber security has been comprehensive and holistic, Husin noted.

“Other than the hardcore CERT and Digital Forensics Team, there is the Information Security Management System (ISMS) ISO 27001 implementation programme for organisations, the CyberSAFE programme to raise security awareness among the public, and the Information Security Professional Development Programme.”

On the risks of cyber attacks, Husin said that the media had a role to play to avoid causing friction between countries.

“Any dispute in the physical world will also become a dispute in the cyber world,” he said. “What gets published on the internet strongly influences people due to the vast number of people reading information on the web. Therefore, any discussions or news reports that could provoke cyber attack should be avoided.”

He added: “We need to create awareness in such a way that people use diplomatic means to resolve conflicts and not take matters into their own hands - or employ hackers to launch cyber attacks.”

Earlier this month, Husin received a lifetime achievement award from ISC², a global information security organisation, for his efforts in improving the info-security profession and raising awareness. He was credited with implementing a national cyber emergency hotline and educating Malaysians on internet safety.