KUALA LUMPUR: The National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa) under the purview of National Security Council (NSC) has warned all government agencies to brace for a possible cyber attack.

NSC, in a statement, said it has issued a notice to all government agencies to take necessary steps to prevent and mitigate the impact of the cyber attack.

“Nacsa is also working with the police to take coordinated actions.

“The government is concerned over this issue and will protect the safety of our information technology infrastructure and critical national systems by outlining measures to bolster information technology systems, including through enhancing the knowledge and skills of the officers involved,” read the statement.

The NSC said, this measure is in line with the government’s Malaysia Cyber Security Strategy (MCSS) which was launched in October 2020.

On Monday, the Anonymous Malaysia group resurfaced after six years with fresh threats to attack Malaysian government websites soon which it deems to have “low security system”.

A cybersecurity expert from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Professor Dr Selvakumar Manickam, said data leaks had always been one of the major security issues worldwide.

“Although the claims in the video cannot be substantiated, the issues raised in the video are real.

“Leaked telco records of Malaysian users in 2017 was made available on the darknet for a mere USD 2.

“Scam calls become prevalent after this incident because the criminals have leveraged this leaked data to carry out their malicious activities.

“It is undeniable that there are potential weaknesses or vulnerabilities within government systems and websites which can be exploited by cybercriminals.

“In order to avoid this from happening, the government should train network engineers and system administrators to gain the security-related skills to manage and configure systems securely.

“We should also consider hiring cybersecurity experts to stress-test the government systems to proactively identify weaknesses and/or vulnerabilities and remedy them.

“The government should also ensure all systems and software are kept updated and with the latest security patches.

“All government staff should be systematically educated to ensure they do not become the victim or a conduit to the cybercriminals,” he said.

This article first appeared on NST.