KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — The Cabinet yesterday agreed that the existing Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 (Act 589) be amended to provide stronger legal provisions to face cyber security threats.

Communication and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the proposed amendments were tabled by him to the Cabinet yesterday and had been agreed upon.

“Hopefully in the next Parliament sitting, we can table the amendments of both acts. Among other things that the amendments hope to look into possibilities of strengthening and having sufficient provisions to implement the cyber security aspect,” he said.

He told reporters after launching Axiata Cyber Fusion Center in conjunction with Celcom Business Tech Week Showcase 2022 at its headquarters here today.

Annuar said the amendments are crucial as the country’s telecommunication ecosystem is facing threats of online frauds and hacking by irresponsible individuals.

He said as a result of the threats, he invited the board of directors from four entities under his ministry to discuss cyber security issues holistically last week.

The four entities are the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Ministry (MCMC), Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Cyber Security Malaysia (Cyber Security) and the Department of Personal Data Protection (JPDP).

“The discussion was to give my picture, perspective and hopes as the minister responsible as I felt we are not doing enough (efforts) and the public needs some kind of assurance that could protect them.

“So through the discussion, I would like to see various angles which could be taken against cases of scams and many others,” he said.

Meanwhile, Annuar as the chairman of the Special Task Force on Jihad Against Inflation said there is a need to have an agency which can assist the government control the data of food supply such as chicken so that there would be no disruption in future.

He said to obtain the data, the agency may benefit from technology such 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) to implement the application.

“As an example, if all farmers could install IoT technology, we will be able to gather chicken supply data apart from depending on automation to make the poultry industry more efficient,” he said. — Bernama