5 Things the Media Hasn’t Told You About Cybersecurity in Malaysia

5 Things the Media Hasn’t Told You About Cybersecurity in Malaysia

In the wrong hands, digital information can be easily leveraged as weaponry. Malaysia has long readied itself for potential cybersecurity issues as a national strategy, setting a strong precedent for other developing countries.

However, CyberSecurity Malaysia received an astonishing 838 incidents in less than a month alone back in 2020. These cybersecurity cases mostly comprised cyberbullying, intrusion into unauthorised systems, and fraud. Considering that the increase in cases coincided with the first MCO, many fraudulent cases involved phishing and email scams feigning legitimate information on COVID-19. 

No matter how prepared the cybersecurity industry is in Malaysia, let’s face it. Hackers and online predators are rising in our midst, and the internet is their playground. To better protect yourself against such attacks, we’re here to inform you of 5 things the media probably isn’t too keen on disclosing to the public.

1. Cyberattacks can happen to anyone

It’s easy to think that cyberattacks are something to gloss through over the news instead of a horrendous fate you’d ever face. But if our state government can fall victim, and it has, then so can you.

Various cyber intrusion attacks, such as data breaches, have been targeting local businesses as of late. Cybercriminals also tend to target individuals within a larger organisation to obtain illicit data or internet with company systems.

When that happens, it could cost you millions in ransom fines and expenses to recover the data. Moreover, company executives and associates would be in danger of losing their job positions. 

2. Social media is a hacker’s favourite hunting ground

This next one comes as no surprise since over 3 billion users are active on social networking sites. Often, we click on links posted by friends on social media platforms without much thought, prompting hackers to take advantage. Let’s take a look at some types of cyberattacks common on SNS:

  • Like-jacking: Cybercriminals post fake Facebook ‘like’ buttons to webpages that download malware.
  • Link-jacking: Hackers redirect users who click on a trusted site’s link to malware-infected websites with drive-by downloads or other infections.
  • Phishing: Acquiring sensitive information, i.e. usernames, passwords, credit card details, disguising itself as a trusted entity in social media messages.
  • Social spam: Unwanted spam content on SNS or websites with user-generated content, such as comments and chats. It appears in the form of bulk messages, malicious links, fake friends, fraudulent reviews, etc.
Social media is a hacker’s favourite hunting ground

3. 99% of computers are vulnerable to exploitation

It is a cybersecurity fact that 99% of computers have Adobe Reader or Adobe Flash. Consequently, these computers, likely including yours, are highly vulnerable to software exploits.

These kinds of software present vulnerabilities so critical that one click on a fraudulent advertising banner can hand over full access of your computer to a hacker. In addition, attackers often utilise these security holes in Flash to infect your computer with ransomware.

The best way to protect your information would be to ensure your software and operating systems are continually updated. You can install updates to run automatically and silently to avoid manual actions. 

4. Fast-advancing technology will only cause more attacks

The emergence of 5G networks has unfortunately cultivated multidimensional cyberattack vulnerabilities. Not to mention the exponential growth of IoT that has led to billions of connected devices. Hackers are now using AI and machine learning to unleash automated cyberattacks on secure systems in masses.

Hence, this new landscape of networks calls for a renewed cyber strategy. Cloud backup-as-a-service has since increased as a cybersecurity solution, with Aegis at the forefront of reliable cloud backup providers in Malaysia. 

5. Inside jobs are a thing

The last essential aspect to factor into cybersecurity is that employees are capable of stealing proprietary corporate data. Besides disgruntled employees who quit or were let go, you should also consider:

  • Malicious insiders, who can cause significant and costly damage;
  • Exploited insiders, who may be tricked into providing data to external parties; and
  • Careless insiders, who may cause accidental deletions or modifications of critical information.

On the whole, it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid clicking strange links, blindly giving away confidential information, and be proactive in raising security red flags to employees. It is also wise to have a long-term cybersecurity solution in place, which Aegis seeks to proffer!

Learn more about our cloud backup and disaster recovery services and strategies with us to build an impenetrable network. 

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