Cyberincidents Have Become A Serious Threat - Ongkili
Bernama (22 May 2012)

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama)-Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Johnity Ongkili says cyberincidents have become a serious threat to socio-economic development and national security.

From only 2,123 incidents in 2008, complaints received by CyberSecurity Malaysia had risen to 8,090 in 2011 and 15,218 last year, he told reporters after after delivering a keynote address at the Second Annual Information Security Summit here today.

He said cyberthreat incidents in Malaysia could cripple the social well being and economic development of the country.

Therefore, he urged local organisations to be prepared to counter the concerns in information security while utilising such technology to grow.

"The internet and information technology have become a double-edged sword, offering development opportunities as well as opportunities to commit crime," Ongkili said.

Taking cloud computing as an example, he said although the future looked bright for most Asian economies as it was already in the process of fully embracing cloud computing, the security issues were not well addressed to allow more companies to confidently move to cloud computing.

This security concern was hindering the increase in business agility and cost reductions for organisations, he said.

"Both the public and private sectors should be cautious with the data storage when using cloud computing and work closely with vendors to ensure the prevention of data loss," he said.

Meanwhile, Ongkili said only 60 out of 400 organisations identified as the country's Critical National Infrastructure (CNII) were ISO/IEC 270001 Information Security Management System (ISMS) certified.

The figure was far from satisfactory and the main pullback for organisations to be compliant was their apathy and "never mind" attitude, he said.

ISMS is an internationally recognised standard for information management which is equivalent to the quality management standard of ISO. It is an initiative by CyberSecurity under the National Cyber Security Policy that was introduced in 2006.