Cyber threats up by 87% from January to October
11 December 2009 (The Star)

KUALA LUMPUR: Cyber threat incidents in Malaysia increased by 87% from January to October this year, compared to the same period last year, according to statistics compiled by national cyber-security specialist centre CyberSecurity Malaysia.

Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Fadillah Yusof said the Cyber999 help centre received 2,937 reports of system intrusion, fraud and forgery, malicious codes, harassment and viruses from the private sector and individuals, against 1,573 cases in 2008.

Speaking to reporters here yesterday after closing the National Cyber Crisis Exercise X-MAYA2, he said managing cyberspace has become a new challenge facing the country.

"When there are more countries moving into the high-technology era, there are more web hackers to challenge the new technology," he said.

Therefore, he added, there must be an early-warning system against these hackers.