Centre to combat cyber threats

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC - SKMM) is investing some RM5 million under the first phase of its project to establish a network security centre (NSC) to address rising cyber attacks, hacking activities & spreading of viruses in local Internet network. The centre, to be located in Cyberjaya, will be the hub for monitoring incoming Internet traffic to the local Internet service providers (ISPs).

The first phase will involve setting up the physical infrastructure & linking the first 7 main ISP's in the country via a dedicated leased line. The second phase, meanwhile, will see the rest of the ISPs be linked up to the NSC. The 7 main ISPs are said to collectively cover about 90% of the country's 12 million Internet subscribers. With the centre in place, any threat that comes into the local ISP network will be shared among all the players, hence benefiting the whole industry. The NSC will provide a 'layer' of security on top all the ISPs. That as a regulator to all the ISPs, it will be easier for MCMC to issue directives to the ISPs on any actions to take regarding cyber security. Based on the latest findings by CyberSecurity Malaysia, the number of cybercrime incidents reported has increased from just 347 cases in 2000 to 1,372 cases in 2006.

Most of these threats & malicious activities will go through the ISPs first before they reach consumers, and by having a centralised monitoring mechanism, the security threats can be better controlled & information about all teh identified threats can be shared with all the ISPs in the country. Although each ISP has its own mechanism of security handling, most of the time the threats that one ISP discovers will remain in that particular ISP & not shared. The NSC will be operated & managed by MCMC from its headquarters in Cyberjaya, and is expected to be completed by year-end. It should be fully operational by the first quarter of this year. The NSC functions will overlap that of order establishments liek CyberSecurity Malaysia.

CyberSecurity Malaysia addresses issues related to the Internet Web sites such as blogs, contents & the Web sites. MCMC will address issues relating to the ISPs. As the ISPs are our licensees, it would be better & more effective if we control these issues & regulate the instructions to the licensees. However, we are also getting help from CyberSecurity & security industry players like F-Secure and Symantec to assist us in this initiative.