Cybersecurity has become the topic of the day in our country recently, following the series of data leak incidents reported since the beginning of this year.
In response to the matter, the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) is planning to introduce a special application to curb hacking-related activities in Malaysia in the near future.
Its minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said a meeting with the application owner would be held outside the country soon.
According to Bernama, the minister said the anti-hacking application can be used by all gadgets registered in the country. He added that the application can help check hacking activities which are getting prevalent now.
“I am also asking Cyber Security Malaysia (CSM) to conduct specific studies on this application because there are still several matters that need to be scrutinised before it is launched for the people in this country,” he said.
While Annuar did not mention which incident prompted the ministry to do so, it is believed that he is referring to the recent data breaches and other cybersecurity issues that affected our country.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and Foreign Minister Dato’ Sri Saifuddin Abdullah became victims of hacking, whereby both their Telegram and Signal accounts were hacked.
A more recent event would be the data breach by Malaysia’s largest online payment gateway iPay88, where its users’ card details may have been compromised.
Meanwhile, Annuar said the government has yet to decide on the payment for said application. “If there is a charge, we will ensure that the price is reasonable and suitable for all parties,” he said.
What Malaysians think?
While the initiative may be good, it appears Malaysians are not expecting much from the project. Some think that this will be another white elephant project by the ministry.
“Get ready for another ‘jabatan’ (bridge) to be established,” a netizen said.
Some were not convinced that such an application would work from the technical aspect.
“Tell me you don’t know how cybersecurity works without telling me you don’t know how cybersecurity works,” one netizen said.
“The app will be hacked 5 mins after launching. Bet,” another netizen commented.
What do you think about this initiative by the ministry? Share your thoughts!
