Governments Malaysia Trustmark will boost e-business confidence
Computer World Singapore (05 July 2013)
By AvantiKumar

A government initiative called the "Malaysia Trustmark' will audit and validate websites in the private sector to promote trust and confidence in online business, said the national security agency CyberSecurity Malaysia.

During the formal launch of the programme on 3 July 2013 in Putrajaya, CyberSecurity Malaysia chairman General (Retired) Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Azumi bin Mohamed said the programme would help to further promote of e-Business beyond geographic borders and help to increase productivity and realise business opportunities in the global online world.

"During the last two decades, the world is experiencing an intense process of change mostly due to the advancement of information and communication technologies or ICT," said Tan Sri Azumi, during his welcome speech. "The changes are mostly positive - with ICT increasing connectivity, enhancing productivity and opening up tremendous opportunities for wealth creation. According to Euromonitor International, 2011, the Internet retailing market in Malaysia is expected to exceed RM1.9 billion [US$623 million] by 2016 from RM842 million [US$264 million] in sales in 2011."

"[However] as e-Business gains popularity, cyber criminals see the opportunity to set up fraudulent websites. Internet users are lured to the fraudulent websites and some end up as fraud victims," he said.

"Last year [2012], the Cyber999 Help Centre of CyberSecurity Malaysia received 4,001 reports of online fraud incidents, which accounts for 40 percent of the total 9,986 incidents reported throughout the year," said Tan Sri Azumi. "The common complaints include phishing sites, online scams and bogus websites."

"Such incidents of fraud raise the issue of trust," he said. "Hence, it is indeed timely that we launch the Malaysia Trustmark to boost consumers' confidence in e-Business. Malaysia Trustmark is a programme where we assess and certify e-Business entities and provide Internet users a way of identifying e-Businesses that are legitimate and will deliver as promised."

Malaysia Trustmark has become a member of the World Trustmark Alliance (WTA) since 2011. This initiative is to ensure that Malaysia Trustmark complies with the global e-Business practices.

CyberSecurity Malaysia will be certifier

"The Government has appointed CyberSecurity Malaysia to be the certifier of the Malaysia Trustmark for the private sector," said CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab.

"Organisations that satisfy the assessment criteria will be awarded the Malaysia Trustmark certificate or seal," said Dr Amirudin. "The implementation of the Malaysia Trustmark improves the competitiveness of Malaysian e-Business in the global market, enhance Malaysia's reputation as a country operating in conformance to high levels of security standards, and build the trust in e-business."

He added that the Malaysia Trustmark for Private Sector actually started operations last year and has received many applications. Currently, CyberSecurity Malaysia has 43 applications from organisatons in different sectors: 12 of those have been accepted for evaluation, eight have been audited and six have been certified.