NEWS: CYbercrimes on the rise

Calls for dedicated court to handle such cases

By STEVEN PATRICK

PETALING JAYA: National ­ cybersecurity specialist CyberSecurity Malaysia says the nation needs a dedicated “cybercourt” in view of the huge increase in cybercrimes in the ­country last year.

Lt Col (retired) Husin Jazri, CyberSecurity chief executive ­officer, told In.Tech the number of cybercrimes reported to them had more than doubled in 2008. The situation is expected to get worse.

“Last year we handled a total of 2,123 incidents which is higher than a 100% increase compared to 2007 when we handled 1,038 incidents,” he said.

Almost half of the reported ­incidents involved fraud and the remainder were about intrusions and malicious code.

Husin was commenting on a recent call by Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor for a ­dedicated cybercourt — a court that handles only cases involving ­cybercrimes.

In a Bernama report on Jan 6, Datuk Shaziman said Malaysia needs a cybercourt in view of the increasing number of such cases.

“If in future we cannot cope anymore, we may need to have a cybercourt,” he was quoted in the report.

Husin said that as the country’s cyberpopulation increases, the number of online transactions or other activities will increase in tandem, which will likely mean more incidents of cybercrime.

“It is a natural phenomena. There will inevitably be more criminals taking advantage of the situation to conduct their crimes online.

“Increases in wireless and ­broadband capacity make it easier and faster to use the Internet. Unfortunately these facilities can be also used as a medium for ­cybercrimes,” he said.

The current economic situation, in which the global economy is heading towards a recession, will also contribute to an increase in cybercrimes, he added.

Babes in woods

According to Husin, there is still insufficient cybersecurity awareness or Internet-safety practices among Malaysians using the Web.

“For example, some people are not updating their antivirus ­software and some don’t have a unique password,” he said.

CyberSecurity has a ­cybercomplaints centre, called Cyber999, where the public can e-mail or call to report incidents or complain about cyberissues such as malware infections, intrusions, online harassment, spam, malicious websites, etc.

“After we receive a report, we validate the complaint and refer the complainant to the police or help him or her lodge a complaint with the service provider or website concerned,” he said.

Husin was attending the Organisation of Islamic Conferences-Computer Emergency Response Team (OIC-CERT) Seminar 2009 in the capital recently.

He said the purpose of the ­seminar is to enable research collaboration among Islamic ­countries to deal with cyberthreats.

The idea is to share information, Husin said. “If for instance there are cyberattacks in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, they can notify us in Malaysia so we can be better prepared,” he said.

CyberSecurity comes under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. It is a one-stop co-ordination centre for national cybersecurity initiatives.