Cyber attacks continue to dominate conversations in the digital sphere, as Microsoft confirmed an outage on July 30 was triggered by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyberattack.
Users were unable to access several Microsoft services, including Microsoft 365 products such as Office, and Outlook and Azure, for hours. The latest incident took place barely two weeks after a CrowdStrike update caused Microsoft Windows machines to crash.
The Malaysian government views cybersecurity seriously as digital trust is among the key pillars of the Digital Ministry.
This is evident in a series of cybersecurity events and partnerships, as the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre hosts Cyber DSA 2024 from Aug 6-8.
On July 29, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) and CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) signed a collaboration agreement to strengthen Malaysia’s digital landscape.
The partnership will also see the establishment of a 5G Cyber Security Testing Centre, as well as the exchange of threat intelligence between the two entities to further strengthen the nation’s cyber defensive capabilities.
The National Cyber Security Agency of Malaysia (NACSA) Cybersecurity Summit 2024 was held on July 31-Aug 1 in Putrajaya. It was attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Digital Minister, Gobind Singh Deo. Several Memoranda of Understanding were signed during the summit.
Alibaba Cloud’s new programme to assist SMEs tap into digital tech
The Digital Ministry welcomes efforts to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) adopt digital technology as part of Malaysia’s journey towards digital excellence.
Speaking at the Alibaba Cloud Digital Government Day 2024 on Aug 1, Gobind said that SMEs are the backbone of Malaysia’s economy, accounting for about 97 per cent of businesses in the country.
“The ministry remains steadfast in supporting businesses and industries through digitalisation. We will continue to speed up the adoption of 5G technology, and improve 5G coverage nationwide, which is currently at 81.8 per cent. This will allow our businesses and citizens to harness the benefits of faster digital connectivity,” he said.
“We are looking further into fostering the development of localised AIs, which not only preserves our sovereignty in this field, but also allows our SMEs to benefit from smaller and more context-aware models.”
At another event on the same day, Gobind said his ministry remained steadfast in its commitment to position Malaysia as a leader in the digital economy, while ensuring long-term, sustainable growth for the blockchain industry.
He said the government has implemented forward-thinking policies and initiatives, aligned with the goals of the MADANI Economy, to foster digital innovation and attract investments that will drive the nation’s digital economy.
“In Q1 2024 alone, 193 companies were awarded Malaysia Digital status. Half of them were infotech companies leveraging on technologies like blockchain, Web3, and artificial intelligence (AI),” said Gobind, in his speech at the Malaysia Blockchain Week 2024.
He said Malaysia has become home to a thriving tech community and a robust digital infrastructure, with a diverse talent pool.
According to Custom Market Insights (CMI), the world’s blockchain technology market size was estimated at US$4.8 billion in 2022, and is expected to hit around US$69 billion by 2032.
‘Personal data law being amended to keep up with advancements’
Amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 are being made due to rapid technological advancements. The amendments are aimed at protecting those who rely on digital platforms for their businesses.
Gobind admitted the digital era offered substantial economic opportunities, but added the government must evaluate the risks associated with online platforms to prevent personal data from being misused.
“In this situation, the government needs to consider new technologies and enact laws to protect those using digital platforms. One way to do this is by enacting laws to protect personal data,” he said when winding up the debate on the Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the Dewan Negara on July 31.
The bill, which seeks to increase penalties from RM300,000 to RM1 million for offences committed by data controllers or data processors who violate personal data protection principles, was passed with a majority voice vote after being debated by 21 senators.
