The Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) under CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) was declared the champion at the ASEAN Capture the Flag (CTF) competition in Perth, Australia.
Communications and Multimedia Minister congratulated the three-member Malaysian team on their win and to CSM for its continuous efforts in training, research and development in the field of cybersecurity.
The competition was designed to challenge its participants to solve computer security problems by conducting a forensic analysis of the affected system. It brought together working-level incident response (IR) professionals from 10 Southeast Asian countries with the aim of strengthening cyber incident prevention, and response capabilities and skills in the region.
The event also provided an opportunity for cyber incident responders to gain insight into the ACSC and provide an opportunity to build working-level relationships between incident responders in Australia and Asean nations.
The IR challenge involved the analysis of artefacts collected from a simulated incident, where players are required to find answers (or flags) to the challenges posed.
The Minister noted that CSM has proven its expertise in providing emergency response on cybersecurity-related matters such as cyber harassment, malware, intrusion, hack attempts and other information security breaches.
Prior to this, CSM gained international recognition from the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) for developing the Interpol Global Guidelines for Digital Forensic Laboratories.
The guidelines are a universal framework for establishing and managing a digital forensic laboratory that is applicable in any part of the world.
These guidelines can be used to establish and manage digital forensic laboratories and process digital information.
It is aimed at providing support to the 194 Interpol member countries, in the form of an international standard in handling digital evidence, conducting cybercrime investigations and prosecuting cases involving multiple countries.
This recognition of CSM’s capabilities reinforces Malaysia’s expertise and skills as amongst the most advanced in the world. It is hoped that the agency will continue to create a safer cyberspace environment for Malaysia’s national wellbeing and economic prosperity, the Minister concluded.
Malaysia has been pushing for greater cybersecurity lately. The result of this is more conferences, events, symposiums, seminars and workshops on the matter.
For example, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) reportedly seeks to have a greater number of women to become a part of the cybersecurity workforce. Hence, women are being encouraged and enabled to apply for the new Empowering Women in Cyber Risk Management Programme.
The pioneer programme has been described as an important step towards building a highly-valued workforce with critical skills. It will empower women to develop the skills needed for jobs with high-demand in the era of Industry 4.0.
The programme is part of a strategic ongoing effort to build up talent in the cybersecurity field as well as to provide skills needed for women to return to the workforce. Successful applicants will undergo a three-month training period this year with the programme’s industry partners.
Malaysia’s commitment to developing better cybersecurity is also exemplified in the state of Johor investing RM294,000 on cybersecurity and securing the state’s database management systems, according to the state’s Education, Human Resource, Science and Technology Committee Chairman.
He said that the amount included payment for security software such as various firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and intrusion prevention systems to guard against external threats.
In order to ensure the security of information and access control to a more secure system, the state government has formulated the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Version 2.0 Policy in November 2017 as an improvement over the previous security policy.
It is undeniable that Malaysia is making headway in its cybersecurity goals bringing it closer to becoming the world’s I&T hub.
