Enterprises urged to beef up knowledge on cyber defence strategy

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian enterprises need to beef up knowledge on cyber defence strategy, namely, in their network infrastructure, to manage and reduce cyber threats, said Cyber Security Malaysia.
Its senior vice president (Cyber Security Responsive Services), Dr Aswami Ariffin, said it was a continuous effort by the agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to cut down the number of virus infection and cyber threats in the local companies.
Based on the numbers gathered by the agency, he said, among the states in Malaysia that were heavily attacked included Selangor, Penang and Johor.
"We would urge the organisations to be aware of this issue and to include the discussions even at the board level," he told a media briefing on "Prioritising Security Response Measures Across Malaysian Enterprises" here today.
Earlier, managing director of Trend Micro Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Goh Chee Hoh, briefed the media on the ransomware threat, which has rapidly emerged as a significant threat to businesses and organisations of all sizes.
He said the threat was a type of malware that would lock, encrypt or otherwise, prevent data and systems from being accessed by their owners.
"The victims later on are required to pay a ransom to the criminal responsible for the attack in order to regain access," he said.
The ransomware is primarily distributed via spam and phishing emails that are sent to large numbers of emails addresses.
When a recipient opens an attachment or clicks a compromised link, the malware is loaded onto the user's system.
Meanwhile, Aswami said, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is conducting analysis on cryptocurrency such as bitcoin and blockchain technology. Cybersecurity has not been contacted but is open to giving its technical advice to the central bank, should it be requested.
"The (blockchain) system is good as it is secured ... however it is sometimes misused by some parties or the cyber criminals who will forced the victims to pay using the bitcoin," he said.
BNM is expected to come out with some guidelines on cryptocurrency.
The cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of additional units of the currency. — Bernama