Cyber crimes up
27 October 2010 (New Straits Times)

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia saw the number of reported cyber crimes rise to 5,181 this year from 2,642 in 2009.

But these cases may not have been attributed by the threats alone because the Internet base is still growing, said CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Lt-Col (Rtd) Husin Jazri.

"We are still calculating the growth of the Internet base and we are safe as long as the growth is larger than the threat."

"But if the threat percentage is higher than the Internet base, then it is something to be worried about."

Still, with guidance from the government and policies that have been introduced, he said the nation is relatively high in terms of preparedness.

Husin was speaking to reporters after the opening of the Cyber Security Malaysia Awards, Conference and Exhibition 2010 by Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof.

Also present was Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir

Fadillah said with rapid urbanisation, creating awareness about cyber security and threats was of prime importance.

"According to the last population census, nearly 62 per cent of Malaysians live in urban areas and the latest census exercise showed there will be even greater urbanisation of the population in the near future."

"It is therefore important that awareness and training programmes be conducted as we need to educate the people about the many threats they may face in the
cyberworld," he said. -NST