CSM improves lab facilities to boost cybersecurity

KUALA LUMPUR: The Digital Ministry, through its agency CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM), has upgraded the cybersecurity laboratory facilities, which have received accreditation and recognition at the international level, the Senate was told on March 18.

Deputy Digital Minister Datuk Wilson Ugak Anak Kumbong said CSM now has 23 accredited laboratories covering various areas, including digital forensics, cyberthreat analysis, assessment and evaluation, and cryptography development.

“A new function introduced via CSM’s pre-emptive service that focuses on measures to mitigate or prevent future risks in the event of a cyber incident encompasses data aggregation from both external and internal sources within the organisation.

“CSM’s pre-emptive technology operation covers five aspects, namely dark web analysis, surface attack analysis, intelligence data collection and integration, open source analysis, as well as the provision of a comprehensive information sharing platform,” he said during the Question for Oral Answers session.

He said this in reply to a question from Senator Datuk Ti Lian Ker about the government’s latest initiatives to improve cybersecurity in the country.

Wilson Ugak also said that from 2013 to March 7, 2024, the Department of Personal Data Protection (JPDP) has implemented 215 programmes aimed at raising awareness among data users and the public regarding Act 709, ensuring the protection of personal data in commercial transactions across the nation.

As an interim measure prior to the approval of Act 709’s amendment, he said the JPDP has introduced a data leakage notification.

“This notification must be submitted to JPDP by data users encountering incidents of personal data leakage, including hacking threats.

“This initiative allows incident information to be analysed so that mitigation measures can be taken immediately to contain further leaks and control the impact of ongoing leaks,” he said. – BK