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

As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and rapid, Malaysia is urged to adopt a risk-based approach to cybersecurity. MyCERT's co-founder and Telekom Malaysia Chief Information Security Officer Raja Azrina Raja Othman explained how the nature of cyber threats has evolved over the past 30 years. Three decades ago, threats were limited to specific systems and networks, but now, virtually all services are digitally interconnected, from banking to government and corporate operations.

The speed at which cyberattacks can occur has increased dramatically, with AI playing a significant role in identifying vulnerabilities and launching attacks more quickly. Raja Azrina emphasized that organizations cannot rely solely on manual processes to defend against these threats and that a risk-based approach to cybersecurity investments is crucial.

She stressed that cybersecurity should be an essential component of an organization's operations, with leadership taking responsibility and integrating it into governance. The challenge lies in managing increasingly complex information infrastructures, where a lack of alignment between IT planning and information security can increase exposure to cyber threats.

Raja Azrina highlighted that organizations must be prepared for potential incidents, as preventing attacks entirely is unrealistic. Instead, they must focus on early threat detection, swift response, and swift remediation to minimize disruption to operations. For Telekom Malaysia, cybersecurity is deeply integrated into the company's responsibilities, with teams monitoring security across networks, cloud services, data centres, and applications.

The company also employs local cybersecurity experts in various areas, including threat detection and incident response. The issue today, according to Raja Azrina, is not whether organizations will adopt AI but whether they can do so securely while maintaining public and customer trust. To address this, Telekom Malaysia developed the TM Cyber Defence Centre (TM CYDEC), using a "Cyber Fusion" approach to monitor cybersecurity issues across network, infrastructure, and application security for both industry and government sectors.

Additionally, TM has implemented an AI security framework to govern AI security. Raja Azrina believes that a strong cybersecurity strategy, a risk-based approach, and effective services and technologies can help organizations detect and respond to cyber threats earlier, minimizing their impact on business. Ultimately, the goal is to enable organizations to innovate and leverage AI confidently, without compromising security and public trust.