Budget 2023: Malaysia allocates RM73 million to tackle cybersecurity threats, improve cyberforensic system capabilities

Minister of Finance Tengku Zafrul shared during Budget 2023 that a total of RM73 million will be allocated to strengthen cybersecurity in Malaysia. This is in response to an increasing amount of cyber threats in the country.

We’ve reported many stories this year alone of cyber threats. This included data breaches affecting 22.5 million Malaysians that allegedly came from the Election Commission’s voter registration site. eWallet accounts were also reported to have been hacked, and there are many stories of individuals being hacked through different types of scams.

“…the Government will continue to strengthen Malaysia’s cybersecurity with an allocation of RM73 million to strengthen the monitoring, detection, and reporting of cyber threats including building the capability of cyber forensic systems,” said Tengku Zafrul.

Additionally, Tengku Zafrul added that to fight online fraud or online scams, there will be measures that they will take to curb them. This includes Pusat Respons Scam Kebangsaan (NSRC) or International Scam Response Centre, which involves the joint venture of PDRM, BNM, MCMC, and NFCC with financial institutions. The center will start operating starting this month and act on reports received to block accounts and take action against criminals.

Tengku Zafrul also mentioned that the government will strengten steps for secure internet banking. This means that banking institutions would stop the use of SMS-based one-time-passwords (OTP) for high-risk transactions. This was already initiated by BNM earlier in September.

The third measure is to provide a platform for the public to report any account or number suspected of being used by online scam criminals. BNM announced that financial institutions will be required to set up dedicated hotlines for customers to report financial scam incidents specifically, but having another platform to report suspected accounts or numbers will potentially help fight scams before they even happen.

The last measure is to intensify the level of awareness of financial and digital literacy of users. This is in order to “reduce the risk of becoming a victim of fraud”. Although Tengku Zafrul did not specify how they are going to raise awareness.

You can read more our coverage on Budget 2023 below:

• Budget 2023: Here’s how to watch it live
• Budget 2023: Pakej Remaja Keluarga Malaysia data plan extended until April 2023
• Budget 2023: Up to RM200 eWallet credit for Youths and M40 groups under ePemula program

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