Malaysia's Cybersecurity landscape
Over the past two years, highly skilled cyber attackers and mounting cybersecurity risks have forced businesses to evaluate their cyber preparedness. According to Teo Nie Ching, deputy minister of communications and digital, cyberattacks in Malaysia have recently become more frequent and severe.
She said that only in the past year alone, the nation had been subjected to significant cyberattacks, including ransomware assaults, efforts at cyberespionage, data dumps, and cyberscams.
According to data from Cyber Security Malaysia (CSM), Malaysia reported 4,741 cyber threats in 2018, but as of February 2023, 456 instances of fraud had been reported.
Who are the critical cybersecurity companies in Malaysia? What are the recent security incidents? Are cybersecurity-certified professionals important for organizations? What is the cybersecurity certification that is on-demand in Malaysia?
These are some of the challenging issues we will address here..
Key Players in the Cybersecurity Market in Malaysia:
The Malaysian government is making efforts to expand the cybersecurity industry. The National Cyber Security Strategy 2020–2024 was introduced by the government in 2020 to improve the nation's cybersecurity posture. The strategy calls for actions to enhance the cybersecurity expertise of professionals, create a more secure IT infrastructure, and increase consumer and business awareness of cybersecurity.
Malaysia's expanding cybersecurity business creates opportunities for IT professionals with cybersecurity expertise. As businesses and governments continue to invest in cybersecurity measures, the need for cybersecurity specialists is anticipated to stay high in the upcoming years.
The following are some of the significant participants in Malaysia's cybersecurity market:
CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM): The national cybersecurity specialist, an agency under the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD) purview. CSM is responsible for promoting and coordinating cybersecurity in Malaysia.
Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD): Oversees the national cybersecurity expert agency CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM). Promoting and coordinating cybersecurity in Malaysia is the responsibility of CSM.
National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA): Country's top authority on cybersecurity issues. NACSA organizes and brings together the nation's leading cybersecurity professionals and resources.
Malaysia's national computer emergency response team (CERT): Responsible for responding to and mitigating cybersecurity incidents in Malaysia.
Recent Cyber Attacks in Malaysia
In July 2021, the Malaysian Employers Federation suffered a ransomware attack involving its encrypted accounting data, and its servers were down for three days.
On November 2022, there was a cyber attack on the MySPR site, resulting in more than 800,000 Malaysian's data with photos being stolen and sold online for US$2,000 (RM9,240),
Besides, on December 2022, Telekom Malaysia confirmed a data breach involving 250,000 Unifi Mobile customers.
In December 2022,13 million Maybank, Astro, and EC users were affected by a data breach.
On April 2023, The Star Online reported hackers stole RM1.9 million from a Batu Pahat corporate account.
These attacks can happen because of multiple reasons, such as unpatched security vulnerabilities, human error, malware, insider misuse, and, last but not least, physical theft and data-carrying devices. Businesses and organizations must pay proper attention to this area as a small slip will affect greatly.
This is why certified and trained cybersecurity professionals are important for organizations today. Professionals with cybersecurity certification are more likely to defend businesses from these malicious attacks.
Importance of certified professionals
Malaysia's rapid development toward the digital economy has appealed for more cybersecurity certified professionals. To meet this demand, the Malaysian government has set a goal of having 20,000 cybersecurity knowledge professionals by 2025. However, there currently needs to be more skilled cybersecurity professionals in Malaysia.
Here are the importance of certified cybersecurity professionals for an organization:
Recognize and reduce hazards: Professionals with cybersecurity certifications are knowledgeable about the most recent cyber threats and can assist organizations in identifying and reducing such risks.
Create and implement security policies and protocols: Professionals will get to establish and execute security policies and processes that will safeguard the organization with the assistance of cybersecurity-trained specialists.
Cybersecurity awareness: A certified cybersecurity professional in an organization can teach and guide other staff on how to protect and defend against the common types of cyber attacks they may face daily.
React to occurrences: Professionals with cybersecurity certifications can assist in responding to an attack on organizations and limiting the damages.
On-demand cybersecurity certification
Now that the importance of a certified cybersecurity professional is implied,, let's look at some of the on-demand cybersecurity course & certification .
CertNexus CBS: CyberSAFE
CertNexus, a vendor-neutral certification provider, design the Cybersafe certification course. This course focuses on empowering professionals to protect their organizations from cybersecurity threats.
It covers physical security, passwords, viruses, malware, wireless devices, web browsing, email, social media, and cloud devices. The Cybersafe certification course provides a basic awareness of protecting the organization.
This course is designed for everyone in the organization using a computer, laptop, phone, and the internet, as they are all at risk of being attacked by malicious cyber attacks.
Cyber Secure Coder
The CertNexus Cyber Secure Coder is another CertNexus cybersecurity certification course that teaches professionals about building protective measures for their organization. Professionals with this certificate will be able to identify and fix the organization's vulnerabilities so that attackers won't find it easy to target them.
CertNexus CSC training, which uses Python and JavaScript, is designed to teach the key concepts needed to build strong cybersecurity practices and includes hands-on activities to reinforce these practices.
The CertNexus Cyber Secure Coder certification is perfect for software developers, testers, and architects who design and develop software in various programming languages and platforms, including desktop, web, cloud, and mobile.
Microsoft Security, Compliance, And Identity Fundamentals
The Microsoft Security, Compliance, And Identity Fundamentals certification course is a fundamental cybersecurity course that teaches professionals how to protect people and valuable data from cyber threats.
Those who attend this course will get a strong understanding of the cybersecurity field. This Security, Compliance, and Identity (SCI) fundamentals certification can be a stepping stone if you want to advance to role-based certifications in security operations, identity and access management, and information protection.
This certification suits those looking to familiarize themselves with security, compliance, and identity (SCI) fundamentals across cloud-based and related Microsoft services.
Microsoft Azure Security Technologies
Reduce costs and complexity with a highly secure cloud foundation managed by Microsoft.
With multilayered built-in security measures and specific threat information from Azure, experts can identify and defend against continually changing attacks.
Professionals who attend this course will be able to maintain a strong security posture and will be able to find and solve any vulnerabilities and weaknesses in organizations' security. The Azure Security Engineer Associate certification allows professionals to safeguard end-to-end infrastructure in cloud and hybrid environments.
This course is for Azure Security Engineers planning to take the associated certification exam or perform security tasks daily.
CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst
The CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst certification course is another vendor-neutral course that enables professionals to utilize their cybersecurity knowledge in any environment. The certification applies behavioral analytics to networks to improve overall security by identifying and combating malware and advanced persistent threats (APTs).
The responsibilities of cybersecurity analysts, who are in charge of monitoring and identifying security issues in information systems and networks and carrying out a suitable reaction to such occurrences, are covered in this CompTIA cybersecurity certification course.
Cybersecurity practitioners who perform job functions related to protecting information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation will be suitable for this certification.
Certified Penetration Tester
Certified Penetration Tester is a cybersecurity training and certification program that teaches participants how to do vulnerability assessments and penetration testing for clients. This cybersecurity course covers the most recent attacks and entry points, how to conduct vulnerability assessments on networks and systems, ways to harden networks to secure corporate infrastructure, exploit techniques on network, web, WiFi, and mobile infrastructure, as well as how to prepare and submit vulnerability assessment and penetration test reports.
This cybersecurity course is designed for network administrators, network executives, and security professionals who wish to conduct vulnerability assessments and penetration testing for their clients. Introduction to vulnerability assessment and penetration testing
Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer
Businesses can identify technologists adept at incorporating privacy by design into technology platforms, products, and processes, corresponding with legal experts, and maintaining the company compliant promptly and cost-effectively by looking for the CDPSE: Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer certification. CDPSE demonstrates that your team possesses the technical abilities and expertise to assess, create, and deploy a comprehensive privacy solution that improves business value, customer insights, and trust, eventually boosting your company's image. This cybersecurity certification course is designed for IT professionals experienced in the governance, architecture, and lifecycle of data privacy at a technical level.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Malaysia is dealing with increased demand for cybersecurity specialists. Businesses in the nation are becoming increasingly dependent on technology as the nation's digital economy grows quickly. As a result, they are now more susceptible to cyberattacks. This issue can be fixed with on-demand certificates offered here with us. For more details, contact us at enquiry@gemrain.net
FAQ
What is the salary for a certified cybersecurity professional?
Security Engineer - RM 54,000 Information Security Analyst - RM 71,309 Information Security Manager - RM 149,900 Chief Information Security Officer - RM 190,351
What are the benefits of getting cybersecurity certified?
What is the difference between vendor-neutral certification and vendor-specific certification?