240 cybersecurity specialists to be trained this year

SUBANG JAYA: Cybersecurity company LE Global Services Sdn Bhd (LGMS), which has launched the Asia Cybersecurity Exchange (AsiaCyberX) platform designed to make Malaysia one of the world’s major cybersecurity hubs, is aiming to train 240 cybersecurity specialists in the next 12 months under a partnership with Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC), in line with Malaysia’s aim to develop 2,000 data scientists by 2020.
AsiaCyberX is the brainchild of LGMS in advocating and supporting cybersecurity entrepreneurship, while also nurturing skilled cybersecurity professionals to meet the growing demand in this space.
AsiaCyberX is solely owned by ACE Accelerator Network Sdn Bhd and was formed out of a partnership between LGMS and the ACE Group, which is involved in financial services, investments and capital management.
ACE Group has allocated US$50 million (RM193 million) for start-ups with high growth potential in the area of cybersecurity.
The AsiaCyberX initiative, which is supported by MDEC, will see MDEC partnering with LGMS to roll out a 12-month MDEC Cybersecurity Development Programme, a pilot programme to recruit 240 undergraduates from eight Premier Digital Tech Universities by 2018.
This will be achieved via a series of activities, including cybersecurity conferences, hackathons, chief information security officer roundtables as well as industry collaboration workshops over the next 12 months.
LGMS CEO Fong Choong Fook said AsiaCyberX’s mission is to identify undiscovered cybersecurity talents and entrepreneurs with huge growth potential. With its training and mentorship programmes, it aims to elevate Malaysia’s cybersecurity ecosystem by strengthening the capabilities of local talent and entrepreneurs.
“AsiaCyberX emphasises on building cybersecurity-related talent and identifying cybersecurity entrepreneurs, providing opportunities for these entrepreneurs to accelerate their ideas into a business,” Fong told a press conference after the launch of AsiaCyberX today.
He said in cybersecurity, there will be multiple roles that need to be filled and will become increasingly in demand. These roles will cover a wide range of duties, from the security analysts who work to prevent and mitigate security breaches to security managers needed to develop and implement overarching processes to keep information private.
Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Seri Jailani Johari said overall, the “funnel” of new talent is too small and not enough to sustain and support growing demand of Malaysia’s digital economy.
“Cybersecurity requires a concerted effort from the government, the public sector, and the industry to drive digital innovation. It is therefore timely that this AsiaCyberX is the first cybersecurity hub in Malaysia, which will provide a central platform for cybersecurity collaboration, innovation and capability building programmes with the support of the National Cyber Security Agency and MDEC,” said Jailani.

According to an AT Kearney Cybersecurity Asean study, Malaysia is one of the top three Asean countries that are expected to contribute 75% of cybersecurity services market share by the year 2025. It said the top 1,000 Asean companies could lose up to US$750 billion in market capitalisation due to cybersecurity risks.