At the United States presidential debate recently, both candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were asked how they would address cybersecurity challenges and the growing international threats online.
Clinton stressed on the need for firm national resolve as she pins blame on certain countries and terrorist groups, while Trump argued that perpetrators could be anyone, including individuals launching attacks from the comfort of their homes. Whatever the argument is, cybersecurity and cyber risks have indeed become a global concern over the past few years.
As the world becomes smaller and more connected, the threat of falling victim to cyberattacks remains a clear and present danger. Governments are putting in more resources, allocations and coherent cybersecurity strategies to combat increasingly dangerous cyberattacks.
On the home front, it was reported that the armed forces’ military intelligence unit has set up a cyber defence special unit to tackle cyber warfare attempts against the country.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was quoted as saying that Malaysia’s sophisticated cyber defence system is expected to be among the best in the region when completed. While cyberspace continues to evolve, cybersecurity continues to become an increasing concern. Cyber crooks are everywhere. They may even be right in your living room as we speak, without us even realising it!
In this Internet age, we are vulnerable to losing more than just our privacy, but also valuable personal information.
Earlier this year, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg made headlines when he applied a piece of tape over his web cam as a protection against potential cyber spies! Whether you’re an ordinary person or a multi-billionaire, no one is safe these days from cyber perpetrators, not even in the comfort of your living room.
One incident last week sparked more awareness on the cyber world. There was a staggering Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on a Domain Name Server (DNS) located somewhere in cyberspace. The attack basically tanked any site that uses the DNS. These kinds of DDoS attacks are becoming more prevalent and destructive over the years. As Internet infrastructure grows and the world becomes more connected, so do these massive cyberspace attacks.
The latest attack was identified to be caused by Mirai botnets, a type of malware that hacked Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as close-circuit television cameras and digital video recorders to launch a massive and sustained Internet attack that caused outages and network congestion for a large number of web sites.
This attack highlights the apparent security flaws in such devices, which is quite alarming, as more of these devices get into our homes and workplaces, and may become part of our lives in the future. A simple and normal IoT device, such as your smart refrigerator or television, may succumb to cyber hacking and cause problems. While it may sound a bit farfetched to some, it is wise not to rule out the potential danger.
From a recent security assessment study by Hewlett Packard on IoT, more of such devices are connected through WiFi and social media networks, and these devices consist of daily sensitive information about our lives and personal data. HP’s study concluded that 70 per cent of our smart appliances have serious security weaknesses that can expose us to cyber crooks looking for opportunities to gain access to our personal information and finances.
Cybersecurity is a bigger concern than we may realise. According
to statistics provided by MyCert (Malaysia Computer Emergency Response Team, which operates under CyberSecurity Malaysia), there were over 2.7 million counts of botnet drones and malware infection attacks by unique Internet protocols (IPs) last year.
Other statistics revealed that more than 9,000 counts of cybersecurity issues were reported in Malaysia last year, such as cyber harassment, fraud, intrusion, malicious codes, denial of service, content related and spam.
The chief executive officer of CyberSecurity Malaysia, Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab, recently said the agency has several key milestones to reach by 2020. The goal is to globalise CyberSecurity Malaysia, expand and engage initiatives through bilateral and multilateral cooperation with local and international agencies to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity strategies.
The more we engage globally with other international cybersecurity forces, the better our chances to protect the nation and people from cyberattacks.
Cybersecurity should be everyone’s responsibility. While the government, through the relevant agencies are putting in place protective cybersecurity measures and strategies at the national level, it still demands a united effort from the people to counter the cyber menace.
The Internet age may have brought many conveniences, but it is still a vast, unregulated space where many bad elements are lurking in dark corners to inflict damage and misery.
It doesn’t, however, mean that we should live in constant fear. But, just like in the real world, we need to be extra alert and take precautions, while reaping the wonderful benefits that the Internet age brings.
Ahmad Kushairi is editor of BOTs, the weekly tech section in Life&Times. Trained in Maths, he has since traded his problem-solving skills with writing about how tech has helped to transform the world for the better