Number of Internet abuse cases quadruples to 2,106
10th October 2003 (NST)
By ALICE CHIA

THE number of Internet abuse cases in Malaysia almost quadrupled to 2,106 cases for the first nine months of this year against 557 recorded last year.

Energy, Communications and Multimedia Parliamentary Secretary Chia Kwang Chye said Internet abuse, especially "spam" or unsolicited e-mails, increased tremendously in the July-September period.

The number of "spam" reported in the three-month period amounted to 1,288 cases compared with only 27 cases in 2002.

Statistics from the National ICT Security and Emergency Response Centre (Niser) showed that the number of "spam" cases rose to 1,323 for the nine months ended September 2003 compared to 80 in September 2002.

"The increase in "spam" reporting also indicates the success of the Government's campaign to create awareness on network security among users," Chia said.

Meanwhile, the number of hacking threats rose 22.3 per cent to 260 cases for the nine months ended September 2003 from 202 last year.

Malaysian Internet users are also exposed to more virus attacks in the period under review with an increase of 135 per cent to 449 cases from 191 cases last year.

Chia was speaking to reporters after launching the Third Asean Internet Trust Symposium on behalf of Minister Datuk Amar Leo Moggie in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The symposium was organised by Multimedia Development Corp, MSC Trustgate.com and Microsoft (M) Sdn Bhd.

MSC Trustgate.com chief executive officer Badrul Hisham Mahari said Internet abuse is bound to expand with the increased use of e -commerce.

"Traditionally, we only see virus attacks and hackings (on the computer network), but as we increase e-commerce usage, spam and forgery will also increase," he said.

Leo Moggie, in his speech read out by Chia said the Asean Internet Trust Symposium will serve as a suitable platform for participants, players and decision-makers from various industries to share ideas and knowledge.