Cybersecurity Malaysia wins international competition

• Brought together working-level IR professionals from 10 SEA countries
• IR challenge involved the analysis of artefacts collected from a simulated incident

THE Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) under CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) has emerged as overall champion at the Asean Capture the Flag (CTF) competition held in Perth, Australia on June 25-27, 2019.

“Heartiest congratulations to the three-member Malaysian team - Muhammad Hafiz Mat Tabrani, Fathi Kamil Mohad Zainuddin and Muhammad Hafizuddin Sharul Lazion - on their win and to CSM for its continuous efforts in training, research and development in the field of cybersecurity,” said Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

The competition, organised by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), was designed to challenge its participants to solve computer security problems by conducting a forensic analysis of the affected system.

This competition 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.

“CSM has once again made Malaysia proud by proving its expertise in providing emergency response on cybersecurity-related matters such as cyber harassment, malware, intrusion, hack attempts and other information security breaches,” said Gobind

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, and I hope CSM will continue to create a safer cyberspace environment for our national wellbeing and economic prosperity,” concluded Gobind.