NOVEMBER 3 — Malaysia has a law to protect its critical systems. It has no law to answer when another state attacks them. Today's warning from the Prime Minister shows why that gap must close.
When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat this morning that Malaysia is “certainly among those considered potential targets” of cyber and hybrid threats, he was describing more than crime. He was describing the possibility of cyber warfare: hostile action, likely state-linked, aimed at disrupting a nation's infrastructure and bending its will.
He gave two reasons. Our data centre and digital capacity now rivals Europe's. And our principled stand on Palestine and Gaza has made us unpopular in some capitals. Both are sources of national pride. Both also make us a target, at a time when attacks on portals, public registries and government systems have shaken Europe, the United States and Japan.
