THE National Security Council will be in charge of monitoring cyberspace as the government recognises cyber defence as part of national security, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said.  

“Although there have been no reported cases of cyber attacks yet, the federal government was aware of the possibilities.

“One of the measures is to ensure we keep up with advances in technology,” he told reporters during his Hari Raya open house last night.  

In May and June, WannaCry and NotPetya ransomwares infected computers, affecting many companies worldwide.

The ransomware cryptoworms encrypted data and demanded ransom payments in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency for release of data.

Salleh said the council was constantly monitoring the situation and working with other agencies including the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, an agency under his ministerial purview.  

The federal government last January announced that the National Cyber Security Agency  would be placed under the umbrella of the National Security Council. – July 2, 2017.