Press Digest: Government urged to establish special agency dealing with cyber attacks

PETALING JAYA: The government has been urged to create an agency specialising in handling cyber attack which is becoming a threat to national security.
Kuala Selangor MP Datuk Irmohizam Ibrahim felt that by doing so it would enable the threat of such attacks to be dealt with immediately.
He said police enforcement only covers commercial crime and not to the point to thwart cyber attack on national security, while other agencies would only take action by following orders from the police.
This slow response only confirms and strengthens the proposal once made by former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan for an elite cyber team to be established, he was quoted as saying
in Berita Harian today.
As an example, he said he was informed of a case of cyber attack which happened three weeks ago but no action had been taken so far.
"We should follow the steps taken by the Royal Malaysian Navy. It has its own cyber defence and are able to deal with cyber attacks effectively.
"As cyber attacks could cripple the national defence system, therefore it is right for the government to establish a new system of defence or 'cyber army', making it the fourth defence system after land, air and water," he said.
Meanwhile, Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin called for the cyber attack issue to be raised in Parliament and for an amendment to be made in the 11th Malaysian Plan for a special allocation
for national cyber defence.
He said the Communications and Multimedia Ministry must initiate a cyber security awareness campaign for the public.