Plans to introduce new cyber crime law timely

KUALA LUMPUR: The government's move to introduce a new federal cyber crime law is timely given the rise in such crimes nationwide, says Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

The Alliance for Safe Community chairman said the new law would improve upon existing laws, which could not effectively curb the current advancement in cyber crimes.

"Cyber crimes are occurring in various sectors.

"There are various syndicates running various online scams including job scam and love scam," he said in a statement on Saturday (Feb 18).

He was commenting on plans to introduce a new federal law focusing on cyber crime, which was expected to be tabled in Parliament in July.

Currently, scams have become more problematic, surpassing narcotic-related crimes, Lee lamented.

"Cyber crimes have become a global threat and have a devastating impact on society," he added.

Curbing cyber crimes effectively required a new integrated law that involved various parties, Lee said.

"Cyber crimes are among the top white collar crimes which resulted in about RM2.32bil in losses last year.

"Thus, the country really needs a new federal law on cyber crimes to ensure authorities can combat these crimes that have become prevalent recently.

"The introduction of the new law is in line with the government's strategy and action in overcoming job scams and love scams.

"We hope the plan to introduce the new federal law will be a reality.

"It will be a proactive step in curbing the spread of cyber crimes," he said.

It was reported that the country was looking to introduce a new federal cyber crime law which was expected to be tabled in Parliament in July this year.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had admitted in the Dewan Rakyat that cyber crimes were getting more complex, sophisticated and dynamic and the elements under the existing laws were not up to date.

"If everything goes as planned, a new Act will be tabled in the July sitting related to the government's efforts to deal with cyber security threats," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Baru) during Question Time on Thursday (Feb 16).

Takiyuddin had asked the government to state its efforts to deal with cyber security threats and data leaks that could lead to activities related to job scammers.

Saifuddin said the government was also considering forming a single entity body from several existing agencies to deal with such threats.