Cyber crime up by two folds last year, loss of RM530 mil recorded

KOTA KINABALU - Cyber crime cases across the country have increased to more than 20,000 cases in the past year, including cyber bullying, forgery, trespassing, data fishing and email fraud, said deputy home affairs secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman.

He also said the sudden increase is a cause of concern as such fraud cases has doubled.

"In 2021, the number of cybercrime cases has increased to over 20,000 cases with a total loss of RM560 million compared to 13,000 cases with losses totaling RM539 million in 2019," he said at an event here.

He said that cyber security is very important as the country moves towards Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) because it depends entirely on digital technology.

"Any issue involving security will have an impact on the government, economic, social and community.

"As we move forward and live with technology where smart cities are being built and mission critical data is sent to a database using the internet, cyber security issues need to be placed at the forefront of the entire digital ecosystem," he said.

He added that many current and new threats are emerging involving new technologies that were unheard of in the past decade.

"At the same time, the current national security landscape is changing faster than ever before.

"Therefore, keeping up with these changes is one of the biggest challenges in ensuring the defense and security of the country and Important Targets are secured," he said.