Minister Fahmi Fadzil unveils new cybersecurity bill to strengthen MY's digital resilience and response

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Communications and digital minister, Fahmi Fadzil revealed that a cybersecurity bill will be tabled in parliament by the end of the year at the earliest.

According to Malaymail, Minister Fahmi said that the bill is currently being drafted by the National Cyber Security Agency, under the National Security Council in order to strengthen the country’s resilience and response to cyber threats. He added that the bill is currently in the process of being brought to the cabinet meeting before its details can be explained to the public.

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Additionally, he reportedly said that he has hopes for the security agency to deliver what is contained in the bill.

Cybersecurity has been a topic of focus for Malaysia’s communications and digital ministry. In conjunction with the unveiling of 5G in Malaysia, the topic of cybersecurity has grown in importance.

In 2020, The Malaysian government set aside RM1.8 billion for its Malaysia Cyber Security Strategy (MCSS) 2020-2024 to improve the country's cyber security preparedness. The Communications and Multimedia Ministry and the National Cyber Security Agency were responsible for creating, implementing, liaising and monitoring the action plan.

According to then Malaysian Prime Minister, Muhyiddin, the plan was conceptualised based on five pillars covering 12 strategies, 35 action plans and 113 programmes. The first pillar boosts the management of national governance and cybersecurity by improving Malaysia's critical ICT infrastructure. It also sought to improve the country's ability to effectively handle cybersecurity issues, Bernama reported. The next pillar focuses on bolstering the enforcement of current cybersecurity laws by reviewing related legislation and formulating laws on cybersecurity.

The prime minister added that the third pillar aims to empower innovation and world standard technology in cybersecurity, while the fourth seeks to improve development capacity and cybersecurity skilled manpower. Lastly, the fifth pillar seeks to boost international cooperation by leveraging regional and international cooperation to protect Malaysia's cyber space, Muhyiddin said.

In more recent news, Minister Fahmi called on Telegram to co-operate with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the country’s enforcement authorities to curb cyber fraud. In the statement, he shared that Telegram has been an alarming source of criminal cases such as fake investment fraud, pedophilia and pornography to name a few.

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