Awareness crucial in war against cybercrime

IT’S not just up to the authorities to ensure a safer cyberspace.

The average Malaysian must also have heightened awareness on cybersecurity and possible threats.

One of the most important things the public can do is to report to the CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) to help them in the war against virtual criminals.

In the Facebook data breach that affected 30 million users worldwide in September,109 Malaysian users reported that their accounts were disabled due to the incident.

“The reports were made to CSM’s emergency response team, Cyber999,” CSM responsive services division senior vice-president Dr Aswami Fadillah Mohd Ariffin tells Sunday Star.

In the incident, hackers gained access to user accounts, and hence, could potentially control them.

This led Facebook to log users out of their accounts, as part of their efforts to fix the problem.

The social media giant had reportedly said hackers were able to access personal information from about 14 million accounts. Such information included relationship status, religion, birthdate, workplaces, search activity and recent location check-ins.

Upon receiving the reports from Malaysian users, CSM analysed and verified the cases and passed them on to Facebook for further action.

“This is something we do with big industry players like Google as well,” Dr Aswami says.

Because technology is evolving so rapidly, he advises the public keep abreast of the changing times.

“The key is to equip yourself to understand better.

“But if you fall victim to a cybercriminal, you can report to us. Cyberwarriors are here,” he quips.

Those who wish to report cybersecurity incidents can contact the CSM through its Cyber999 Help Centre at 1-300-88-2999 (office hours) or its 24-hour emergency hotline [phone]. For more information, log on to www.mycert.org.my