KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is facing thousands of cyber attack attempts every month, which requires a quicker, more robust level of preparedness from security forces in confronting new-millennium defence threats.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the country's security landscape is no longer focused solely on conventional military threats. Cyber attacks, system intrusions, and terrorist cell movements have become the most critical challenges today.
"We face thousands of attack attempts in a single month. Therefore, we must strengthen our defence, and last week I met with the top leadership of the armed forces to discuss strengthening the cyber security unit," he said.
He said this while answering a participant's question during the "Temu Anwar" session with the National Young Heroes of the National Service Training Programme (PLKN 3.0) at the 515 Territorial Army Regiment Camp here on Saturday (Nov 14).
To illustrate the seriousness of the threat, Anwar referred to a recent airport operational disruption incident in the United States (US), which stemmed from telecommunications system issues in that major superpower.
"Think about how the United States, with all its sophistication, could not identify the cause, but there was an attack on the telecommunications system that caused it to crash. We are still waiting for the final report," he said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister emphasised that the pattern of national defence and asset procurement must rapidly adapt to the sophistication of modern technology, such as drone operations, without neglecting conventional defence aspects.
Recognising the urgent need to empower both dimensions of defence, Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said that the government has elevated the Defence Ministry’s allocation to the highest level in history, bringing it on par with allocations to the Education Ministry and Health Ministry.
He said this substantial funding is crucial to replace various obsolete conventional assets of the security forces, including naval vessels, aircraft, and armoured vehicles.
"Because of obsolete aircraft and broken-down tanks, we are spending on all of that. However, regarding these procurements, the government also wants to ensure that past problems - such as the use of agents and high commissions that resulted in multi-million ringgit ship projects being abandoned - do not happen again," he stressed. - Bernama
