Future of Cybersecurity Conference to address industry challenges

• Inaugural conference to be held on June 20, 2019
• Will look at industry trends, 5G and the role of the Government

IT MAY have been it’s been a while since high profile cyber-security attacks have made headlines, but one important thing to note is that we’re never, ever in the clear.

The Malaysia Compute Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) recorded more than 10,000 cyber-security attacks on corporations and individuals across Malaysia last year, a 35% increase compared to 2017.

Some of the reports include fraud (2,158 cases), intrusion malicious code (192), cyber-harassment (170), spam (103), intrusion attempt (77), vulnerabilities (40), content-related incidents (23) and denial of service attack (3).

Worth noting is that fraud cases went up 34% compared to 2017, while intrusion attempts increased a staggering 578% in a year. MyCERT also found a 108% increase in malicious codes.

Adding to that are the more than 3.21 million botnet drones and malware infection incidents recorded in Malaysia alone in 2018.

Of course, these are just cases that have been recorded by MyCERT, as well as attacks that were reported to the authorities. “The non-reported numbers could be bigger,” says Pikom (National ICT Association of Malaysia)’s Cybersecurity Chapter chair Alex Liew.

All in all, reported losses for cyber-crime was more than US$72 million (RM300 million) in 2018.

Addressing problems, seeking solutions

Liew was speaking at the media briefing on the upcoming inaugural Cybersecurity Conference, set to happen on June 20, 2019.

Themed “Catch Me If You Can,” the event aims to address the increasingly critical need to battle against cyber-security threats that can cripple organisations and infrastructure, and will be featuring leading industry speakers from the region presenting their recommendations and solutions.

The event is expected to be attended by over 200 C-level information security officers, cyber-security heads and industry chiefs.

Pikom chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah notes that while perception around cyber-threats and cyber-security has increased, there is a growing need to address the issues surrounding new technology that are expected to arrive en masse in the near future, especially with the introduction of 5G tech.

“Cyber-security is clearly a big concern, given the growing role of the digital economy and its rising contributions to the overall ICT industry and the Malaysian economy,” he says, adding that cyber-attacks do not discriminate between organisation, business sizes or individuals.

“This is where the Future of Cybersecurity conference brings added value to the table. The key takeaway is seeing opportunities in industry trends, how 5G is shaping the future of cyber-security and the prominent role of the Government in ensuring continuous engagement with the industry and academia,” says Liew.

“There is a pressing and urgent need for the private and public sectors to work closely together with academia and industry to reach the national target of 10,500 cyber-security workforce by 2020 with the right skills training in AI, IOT and Big Data across all industries.”

A place for collaboration

Liew additionally notes that one of the panel discussions will include someone from academia who will help point out the issues when it comes to talent acquisition in the cyber-security workforce, specifically Sunway University associate dean and head of department Prof Dr Lau Sian Lun.

The conference will also see government cyber-security agencies share blueprints and national strategies, as well as address the lack of cyber-awareness amongst industry players. There will also be the sharing of industry best practices, upcoming technologies and trends in cyber-security.

Speakers and presenters at the conference include National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) CEO Mohd Shah Muri Md Zain, CyberSecurity Malaysia CEO Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)’s Enabling System director Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad.

NACSA, CyberSecurity Malaysia, MDEC and Asia Cybersecurity Exchange are notably on board as partners of the event.

Outside of governmental agencies, the speaker lists include Axiata Group chief information security officer Abid Abdul Adam, U Mobile chief information officer Neil Tomkinson and Hong Leong Bank group IT security head Dr Suresh Ramasamay.

The conference will also be supported by industry partners like Fortinet, Cisco, Cloudflare, RSA, Dell, Gigamon, Infoblox, ICT Productivity Nexus of Malaysia Productivity Corporation, Sentinel One, Dimension Data and Glocomp Systems.

The Pikom Future of Cybersecurity Conference 2019 will be held on June 20, with admission at RM990 per person for non-Pikom members. For Pikom corporate members, there will be complimentary seats limited to two persons per company.

Registration can be done at http://www.pikom.org.my/