KUALA LUMPUR: Consider this – data breach incidents in the country have risen by over 1,000%.
Revealing this startling statistic in Parliament yesterday, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said 646 cases were reported in 2023, up from just 50 the previous year, working out to a 1,192% rise.
And the figures recorded so far up to September this year do not bode well, with 427 cases already lodged with the ministry.
“Data leaks have serious implications for the country’s security and sovereignty.
“Sensitive information like personal details of citizens, government secrets and security data can be manipulated by threat actors and hackers.
“This opens the room to cyber threats like surveillance, hacking attacks and data misuse that erode public trust in government institutions,” Gobind said in a written reply to Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong in the Dewan Rakyat.
The minister said unscrupulous parties could also exploit exposed data to carry out cyber crimes such as identity theft and attacks on critical national infrastructure.
Furthermore, he said data breaches risked damaging the national economy and creating instability.
“The government will take measures to reduce the risk of data leaks to ensure that the security of the nation’s information is guaranteed,” he added.
Gobind also said the ministry had implemented monitoring and cyber threat detection measures to curb incidents of government sector data being traded on the Dark Web.
These included setting up an active monitoring centre by CyberSecurity Malaysia’s Pre-Emptive Services and Technology Division to check on suspicious activities, he said.
The ministry also conducted data analysis and gathered information on data breaches involving ministries and agencies, he said, adding that it also provided guidelines and training for civil servants on cybersecurity issues and data leak prevention measures.
