BOTS LIFE & TIMES
With 2,907 recorded cases of fraud alone this year, it is considered the most highly expected attack Malaysians are prone to.
According to Chief Executive Officer of Cybersecurity Malaysia, Datuk Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab, having the best technology alone cannot ensure the safety of our cyberspace.
“The key factor to making it safer is us, humans, the weakest link,” he says, adding that 'bad guys' won’t just stop when you have a loophole. They will try the window, climb the wall, and continue to find ways to enter your house ― the same goes with cyberspace.
Today, humans cause most of the malicious attacks recorded by Cybersecurity Malaysia and it’s not limited to individuals but also big corporations.
How? With limited knowledge and awareness on how attacks can happen, for example, clicking on an infected link could set everything in motion.
“Ninety-nine per cent of successful attacks are the result of human error,” says Amirudin.
“We need to focus more on the people rather than only looking at technology,” he adds.
It is common that people do not know which link is infected and which is not. It is something that no one can guarantee but with awareness, the number of incidents can be minimised.
“One of the main threats recorded are scams,” says Amirudin. This happens to almost everyone - housewives, retirees, even professionals are not excluded.
Realising human vulnerability in falling for scams, Cybersecurity Malaysia has launched campaigns to educate and inject awareness in the public. Amirudin says, “We need to look at this beyond technical issues. It is also good for big organisations and corporations to organise cybersecurity programmes for their employees.
“One bank just organised a cybersecurity week, and they invited Cybersecurity Malaysia to conduct the programme. They also made sure that their staff understood and posseses the ability to minimise threats of malicious attack,” says Amirudin.
“One great thing is that they included the board of directors as well. That reflects readiness and willingness (on their part) in dealing with this issue (of cyber attacks).
“Most organisations only do this for their staff but it should actually be done for everyone, regardless of position because all are vulnerable,” he says.
CALL IT IN
Cybersecurity Malaysia has established a call centre, Cyber 999, which the public can call to ask about cyber security matters, including reporting cyber-linked issues.
“We received a total of 5,078 cases as of Aug 28 this year, and the topmost is fraud,” says Amirudin.
With 2,907 recorded cases of fraud alone this year, it is considered the most highly expected attack Malaysians are prone to.
Fraud cases recorded are not exclusive to scams only, but also BEC (Business Email Compromise), phishing, online businesses and others related to money.
“Most scams are about money and this is why humans are the weakest when it comes to money.
CyberSafe or Cyber Security Awareness for Everyone is a programme under CyberSecurity Malaysia to educate the public and organisations.
“The programme provides tips and advice to participants, to remind them about the need to be wary and cautious when they are online.
“We provide them with the technical safety measures they need to know to protect themselves online as there are bad guys in the cyber world too. These are people who will exploit their vulnerability,” says Amirudin.
Organised in various ways, the CyberSafe programme also offers talks and seminars. Under the same umbrella, CyberSafe also carries out training for professionals (with or without IT background) to be a trainer for its programmes.
Realising the importance of educating Malaysians from young,