Trend Micro commends the Malaysian government’s commitment to push forward the country’s digital transformation. The emphasis on strengthening digitalization, spurring innovation, and improving connectivity will not only increase stakeholder and end-user confidence but also propel the nation further, accommodating the needs of our digital lifestyles while spurring economic growth for our nation.
The allocation of RM10 million to improve the operations of the National Scam Response Center (NSRC) is a welcome move to address the growing problem of online fraud, with 25,000 cases recorded in 2022 costing RM850 million in Malaysia. This is pivotal to continue strengthening the country’s cybersecurity resilience by improving the monitoring, detection, and cybercrime reporting capabilities.
It is also encouraging to see the government’s sustained commitment to digitizing public agencies by ensuring the effectiveness of its cloud computing services, with the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) taking strategic steps to upgrade the hybrid cloud service MyGovCloud. It is crucial for decision-makers to recognize the importance of cybersecurity as new vulnerabilities and security risks remain constant.
The acceleration of digital transformation must be balanced with proactive and effective cybersecurity investments and measures to ensure business continuity. While digitization will bring increased opportunities for growth, it will also lead to an increase in the digital attack surface. Trend Micro would like to urge that cybersecurity should be, if it is not already, at the very top of a business growth plan and budgeting for all organizations, especially SMEs in Malaysia.
Hiring the right cybersecurity professionals can be challenging in Malaysia due to a growing cybersecurity workforce gap and the fact that SMEs may not have the resources to recruit a large team. The ideal approach is to subscribe to Security Operations Center as a Service (SOC-as-a-Service) on a unified cybersecurity platform for 24/7 threat detection and response, to protect businesses against today’s increasingly sophisticated threat landscape, while uplifting the nation’s digital aspiration.
