M'sia reeling under tide of cyber-fraud
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Expert warns of damage to country's image among foreigners
Cyber-crime has reached new and alarming levels for Malaysians, with the value of online fraud this year expected to surpass the 1.1 billion ringgit (Bt10.88 billion) recorded in 2012.
Cyber Security Malaysia chief technology officer Solahuddin Shamsuddin said cyber-crime had reached 1 billion ringgit in the first six months of the year.
“The fraud cases mostly involved criminals ‘phishing’ individuals to give out their banking details,” he said, after delivering his keynote address at the 4th International Cyber and Economic Crime Conference organised by CSI World Headquarters and jointly organised by ICFE Group of Companies.
He said criminals usually try to direct individuals to a fake website, often created to mimic banking sites.
“The victims are mostly individuals that believe that the link provided in their e-mails will direct them to the real banking site.
“To avoid this, people in general must be aware and more suspicious of e-mails requesting banking details and so on,” he said.
On the security side, Solahuddin said an Internet banking taskforce has been set up jointly by the police, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and Cyber Security Malaysia.
“Actually, fighting this type of cyber-crime is simple – just make people aware they need to be more careful and vigilant in following the links sent to their e-mail accounts.
“If you receive a suspicious e-mail, never try to click on the link provided. Instead, the public should go to their banking sites independently by typing website address themselves.
“They could also click on the padlock icon on the browser to ensure the certificates and domain address really belong to the bank,” he said.
Solahuddin cautioned that this problem, if not tackled, would affect the image of the country with foreign investors.
