As cyber threats strike at AI speed, Malaysia urged to embed risk‑based defence

Cyber threats are rapidly evolving, propelled by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), prompting Malaysia to adopt a risk-based approach to cybersecurity. MyCERT, the country's national cyber emergency response framework, has grown exponentially since its inception in 1997, owing to the escalating volume and accelerating pace of cyber attacks.

Today, cyber threats are no longer confined to specific systems or networks, but span across various sectors, including banking, government services, corporate operations, and critical infrastructure. A key challenge lies in the complexity of modern information infrastructures, which often lack alignment between IT planning and information security, rendering organizations more susceptible to cyber threats.

Raja Azrina Raja Othman, Chief Information Security Officer at Telekom Malaysia (TM) and co-founder of MyCERT, emphasized that cybersecurity is not an optional measure, but an essential component of business operations. She highlighted the need for a risk-based approach to cybersecurity, prioritizing risks based on their potential impact on business operations.

Organizations must be prepared for the possibility of threats, focusing on early threat detection, swift response, and efficient remediation to minimize disruption. TM's cybersecurity capabilities, built over years of experience, cover networks, cloud services, data centres, and applications. To further bolster security, TM has established the TM Cyber Defence Centre (TM CYDEC) to monitor cybersecurity issues comprehensively and has developed an AI security framework to govern AI security.

The ultimate aim is to enable organizations to innovate and leverage AI securely, without compromising security and public trust.