Cybercrime is the greatest threat to every company in the world.
– Ginni Rometty, American business executive
By Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim
In the last article we shared the need for a focus digital platform to educate us on cybersecurity and privacy issues and ESPC (eSecurity and Privacy Channel) was cited as an example.
The focus digital platform is needed to create an avenue for continuous education and provide a collaborative platform for viable solutions addressing issues on cybersecurity and privacy. This effort is important because cyber-criminals can reach us from anywhere in the world for as long as we are virtually connected through computers, smartphones, and other relevant devices.
Thanks to the pandemic, today’s digitisation is seen at a different level as it has become a major enabler of digital economic activities in our country.
When Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made a clarion call for the adaptation of digital economy and continuous innovation in early November 2020, it was done at the right time as businesses need to remain relevant and sustainable amid the unprecedented challenges due to the health pandemic.
The Prime Minister said innovation and digitisation are fundamentals within this context, as these enablers not only facilitate efforts to rejuvenate economic activities, but also safeguard the health and wellbeing of the people. He emphasised this point during his keynote address at the virtual Apec CEO Dialogues 2020.
Chief Minister Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg at the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (IDECS) 2020 in October also stressed that the state has started embarking on a digital transformation journey since 2017 as part of the digital economy strategy.
He also highlighted that the post Covid-19 economic growth will be driven by data and innovation and as such digital economy is the key to achieving the state’s 2030 Economic Agenda.
“As always, with any strategy, certain aspects such as digital sovereignty, interoperability, ease of doing business, cybersecurity, digital readiness and supporting digital transformation of the private sector could be further strengthened to accelerate the state’s post Covid-19 economic agenda”, he was quoted by a local newspaper.
There is no doubt the digitisation process has helped transform the economy into a new paradigm shift more so during the health pandemic challenge.
Although digitisation could bring various benefits especially to the economic sector, the flipside is hard and complex to understand. Therefore, it must be understood and addressed systematically and continuously.
As the digital economy progresses, it creates along the drawback which has increased exponentially. We call this drawback the ‘Dark Side of Digitisation’. We will discuss more about it next.
What is Dark Side of Digitisation?
The “Dark Side” of digitisation is one of the disadvantages that comes alongside when extensive digitisation is implemented. It cannot be avoided as we do not have much choice but to face and address arising issues. Continuous awareness campaign and education programmes are key to addressing this matter, short as well as long term.
Cyber threats come directly to us in a big way regardless whether we are ready to face it or not. Cybercriminals are already going after our data and exploit it beyond our imagination.
Data breaches, hacking activities, ransomware attacks, online and hybrid scams, phishing attacks, ‘distributed denial of service attacks’, cyber grooming, cyber prostitutions, online illegal drugs distribution channels and so much more are around us virtually.
As our digital solutions get more creative, so do cyber criminals. They are even more creative, motivated, and well organised domestically and internationally.
In the digitisation era, data is equated as the third currency after gold and oil. Data stolen by cybercriminals, including your personal one, is posted on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. It could be harvested and traded at a high price in the Darkweb, or other virtual black markets.
According to a Bernama report published last month, a total of 1,420 out of 2,676 Macau scam cases have been brought to court between January and October this year, involving losses amounting to RM256 million or possibly be more.
The victims were easily duped by threats or sweet promises made through phone calls claimed to be from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), Bank Negara Malaysia, police personnel and judicial courts officers.
Most of the victims were unaware of what they were doing, with some giving away their PIN and bank account numbers and others taking up bank loans and transferring the money to the scammers’ mole accounts.
Another major concern is ransomware attack. During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, major companies around the world reported an increase in ransomware attacks, data breaches, systems intrusions and other hacking related activities.
CyberSecurity Malaysia, a government linked company, cited 838 cyber incidents from March 18 to April 7, a period coinciding with the movement control order (MCO), marking a significant increase of 82.5 percent compared to the same period last year. This does not include data from other sources such as computer emergency response teams in respective government agencies, states governments and the private sector in Malaysia. Combining these incidences, the end result could have been more than what had been published.
While his spike did not only happen in Malaysia, Japan and Australia reported a similar pattern of increase in data breaches, phishing attacks and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks during this pandemic period.
What should we do to overcome these challenges?
To address these challenges, a concerted effort between the public and private sectors, and citizens is urgently needed. In addition, there must be adequate allocation of funding to ensure relevant programmes are established and executed without delay in addressing this issue.
We need to have effective cyberlaws and enforcements teams with adequate technical competencies to combat cybercrimes at its core.
It is inevitable that we need public and private sector involvement in innovative ways to provide effective solutions and services to cope with these challenges.
Collaborative international partners who share the same concerns are essential as many cyberattacks originated from outside Malaysia, to cover their hacking tracks.
We need strong bilateral and multilateral cooperation among law enforcement agencies internationally, solid support and cooperation from telecommunications service providers as well as cloud service providers globally.
Unfortunately, when cybercrimes claim their victims, it is difficult to detect and recover, more so when the cases involve cross border cybercriminals, as tracking them on international territory with different legal jurisdictions and relevant digital evidence can be very complex and time consuming.
Thus, the best and the most effective way to cope with this dark side is to apply a basic principle –prevention is better than cure. This is the most important reason for continuous awareness campaigns and open education programmes, so that they become a norm in our daily life like reading our favourite newspapers every day.
Today (Dec 15), at 8pm local time, Serba Dinamik ESPC is organising a sponsored webinar once again on ‘Child Grooming’ with Kayelene Kerr, a child protection expert from Australia.
Do register and join us online at https://www.espc2go.com and you can watch it live with family members from this portal or using your smart TV viewing ESPC YouTube Channel. Participation is paid for by sponsors.
This culture of continuous learning, Cradle to Heaven, implies the importance of getting ourselves more prepared for the Digitisation Era.
Till then, stay safe and think smart before you click!
• Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim is the founder of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, Serba Dinamik Sdn Bhd and Serba Dinamik Group Bhd
• Assoc Prof Col(R) Datuk Dr Husin Jazri, senior vice president (Cybersecurity) and editor-in-chief, ESPC Media, also contributed to this column
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
