MALAYSIA NEEDS TO WORK WITH OTHERS ON CYBERSECURITY

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 (Bernama) -- There is a need to be always one or two
steps ahead in order to be effective in ensuring the safety of Malaysia's
cyberspace, according to CyberSecurity Malaysia's chief executive officer Lt Col
(Rtd) Husin Jazri.

This could only be achieved by working together with other cybersecurity
specialists and organisations, he said in a statement on the agency's
participation at the Third Counter e-Crime Operations Summit (CeCOS III) in
Barcelona, Spain, from May 12 to 14.

The event is organised by the Anti Phising Working Group (APWG).

"As we all know, the Internet and ICT (information and communications
technology) are extremely dynamic and fast-changing. Simply keeping up-to-date
is not enough. We need the synergy of international partnership in order to stay
ahead," Husin said.

"And to be effective in our role of ensuring the safety and security of
Malaysia's cyberspace, we need to be one or two steps ahead at at all times.
This can only be achieved by working together with other cybersecurity
specialists and organisations," he said.

Husin said that CyberSecurity, an agency under the Science, Technology and
Innovation Ministry, has been a member of APWG since 2007, adding that being a
member and participating in expert gatherings such as the CeCOS III is important
for the country.

The three-day summit, which saw 200 international experts participating in
the fight against cybercrime, presented an opportunity to build strategic
alliances between counter e-crime operatives worldwide from both the private and
public sectors, CyberSecurity said.

This year's conference focused on the development of e-crime response
approaches, resources for counter e-crime managers and forensic professionals
and operational aspects of consumer protection.

Presenters gave assessments of e-crime attack paradigms and technologies,
case studies of national and regional economies under attack, narratives of
successful transnational forensic cooperation, paradigms for cooperation and
unified response against e-crime and data resources for forensic activities.

CyberSecurity presented the "National Report and Case Study on e-Crime in
Malaysia".

The agency said that Adli Abdul Wahid, head of the Malaysian Computer
Emergency Response Team (MyCERT), was invited by APWG to talk about phishing and
e-crimes in Malaysia, and what was being done by the Malaysian government
(through CyberSecurity Malaysia) to address the situation.

Adli shared case studies on phishing threats referred by Malaysian Internet
banking users to the Cyber999 help centre and how CyberSecurity Malaysia handled
those incidents.

He also explained about the various awareness programmes being conducted to
nurture a culture of cybersecurity among Internet users.

MyCERT is a department in CyberSecurity Malaysia that anticipates and
prevents cyberintrusions and incidents in order to protect Internet users from
becoming victims of cyberincidents or e-crimes.

It operates the Cyber999 service where Internet users can send email to
cyber999@cybersecurity.my to get assistance on handling cyberincidents such as
hack threat, phishing, harassment, and malicious software.
-- BERNAMA