As Malaysia gears up for the on-going transformation towards a fully digital economy, Cybersecurity is of paramount importance.
Recent public and private partnerships including Malaysia Digital Economy Corp’s (MDEC) partnership with Alibaba to establish an e-hub under the world’s first Digital Free Trade Zone; and the partnership between Cybersecurity Malaysia, the national cyber security specialist and technical agency, and Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation highlight how cyber security awareness is a top priority for both the public and private sectors.
These collaborations are a step in the right direction as revealed in Akamai’s Second Quarter, 2017, State of the Internet – Security Report. Cyberattacks, including total web application attacks, Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and reflection-based attacks are increasing in frequency, methods of attack and efficacy.
Though DDoS attacks remain a constant threat, Akamai’s latest report shows that the number of IP addresses producing DDoS traffic has plummeted in Q2 2017.
Additionally, Malaysia is ranked 18 globally of web application attack sources. Singapore, on the other hand, dropped off the top 10 source country list for web application attacks, with a decrease in attack traffic by almost 50% from Q1 to Q2 2017.
Akamai’s findings also highlighted the increase in the number of DDoS attacks on gaming companies. This is particularly of significance to Malaysia as the gaming industry continues to evolve. Last year alone, the gaming PC market value in Malaysia was estimated at US$47.03 million.