THE cabinet yesterday agreed that the existing Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 (Act 589) be amended to give them more bite in tackling cybersecurity threats.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa said he tabled the proposed amendments to the cabinet.

“Hopefully in the next parliament sitting, we can table the amendments of both Acts. Among other things, we hope to strengthen the laws to face cybersecurity threats,” he said. 

He told reporters after launching Axiata Cyber Fusion Centre in conjunction with Celcom Business Tech Week Showcase 2022 at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Annuar said the amendments are crucial as the country’s telecommunication ecosystem is facing threats of online frauds and hacking by irresponsible individuals.

He said as a result of the threats, he invited the board of directors from four entities reporting to his ministry to discuss cyber security issues holistically last week.

The four entities are the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Ministry, Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation, Cyber Security Malaysia and the Department of Personal Data Protection.

“The discussion was to give my picture, perspective and hopes as the minister responsible as I felt we are not doing enough (efforts) and the public needs some kind of assurance that could protect them.

“Through the discussion, I would like to see various angles which could be taken against cases of scams and many others,” he said.

Meanwhile, Annuar as the chairman of the Special Task Force on Jihad Against Inflation said there is a need to have an agency which can assist the government control the data of food supply such as chicken so that there would be no disruption in future.

He said to obtain the data, the agency may benefit from technology such 5G and internet of things (IoT) to implement the application.

“As an example, if all farmers could install IoT technology, we will be able to gather chicken supply data apart from depending on automation to make the poultry industry more efficient,” he said. – Bernama, August 27, 2022.