Malaysia Prepared for Cyber Threats, Says Minister Jailani Johari

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, May 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is constantly prepared for cyber threats, says Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Jailani Johari. "We have standard operating procedures. If a threat occurs, we can handle it," he told Bernama and Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM, the Malaysian public broadcaster) here. Malaysia successfully handled a cyber security threat three years ago, he noted. Jailani arrived in the republic on Sunday on a working visit and to attend the Ministerial Forum on ICT (MF-16) themed "Connectivity, Content, Cybersecurity" beginning Monday. Earlier, Jailani met Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence & Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman. Jailani said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the National Security Council (NSC) had set up a joint committee on cyber security threats. The Ministerial Forum on ICT, in which Malaysia has been actively participating for the last 10 years, is attended by Asian leaders and information and communications technology industry players, and could help the country formulate its own ICT policies, he noted. "Technology is always changing. In a forum like this, Malaysia can share technology and ideas with our neighbours," he said. One issue raised was the need to regulate over-the-top (OTT) services, an area which Malaysia is studying, he noted. MF-16 is being held a day before the 27th International Communications and Information Technology Exhibition & Conference 2016 (CommunicAsia 2016) at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, where eight Malaysian telecommunications firms will participate under the Malaysian Pavillion. At the annual meeting between MCMC and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, issues raised include spectrum and frequency coordination. "Malaysia and Singapore work very closely in spectrum coordination, particularly along our border areas," said Jailani. On Malaysia's broadband penetration, Jailani said it had risen to 77 per cent from 33.4 per cent at the launch of the National Broadband Initiative (NBI) in the first quarter of 2010. --BERNAMA