PETALING JAYA, Aug 12 — The Digital Ministry plans to formulate a policy on quantum technology to strengthen personal data protection, said Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
He said his ministry is holistically looking at data to improve cyberinfrastructure resilience, preparing the nation for the new technology.
Quantum tech that can handle data encryption in under five minutes, instead of years with normal computers, will pose a new challenge for the national cybersecurity sector, Bernama reported last week.
It said while the technology is able to make computing faster, it can also be used to break encrypted data in applications like WhatsApp in just a few minutes.
“We will come up with something, hopefully by the end of this year, and work is in progress,” he told a media conference today.
As cyber threats increase, Gobind also expressed hope the Cyber Security Act 2024, which was gazetted on June 26, can be enforced this month.
He said enforcement of the act is necessary to let the country step up national cybersecurity readiness and defence, building cyberinfrastructure resilience.
“I think at the end of the day, it is important to note it sends a very clear signal, not just here in our country and our region, but also across the globe, that we are serious about cybersecurity,” he added.
He said between 2021 and April 2024, 95,837 cybercrime victims in the country suffered losses of RM3.18 billion.
“It is also likely the figures could be higher as many victims do not report to the authorities for various reasons.
“It is imperative for the nation to crack down on cybercrimes that are able to inflict serious damages for profit or political gains,” he said.
Earlier, Gobind witnessed the signing of two memorandums of understanding between Axiata Group Bhd, CyberSecurity Malaysia and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation.
Under the deals, the three parties agreed to promote digital transformation, cybersecurity innovation, and resource sharing to identify cyber threats, and collaborate to promote the development of international norms in cybersecurity.
Among the areas of collaboration are joint consultations and risk assessments involving collaborative reviews, combating malicious activities, addressing cross-border incidents, and sharing best practices in cybersecurity governance and risk management.
They also agreed to share intelligence and expertise in threat detection to increase the effectiveness of incident response and create a mutual platform to exchange insights and expertise vital to cybersecurity professional talent development programmes.
— Bernama
