Masiung Banah
KOTA KINABALU: The existing law related to cyber crime is like ‘scrap iron’ that needs to be reviewed and replaced immediately, said Kuamut Assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah.
According to him, there is a drastic need to draft a new Act in line with the advancement of digital technology.
He said Malaysia ranked 11th in the world with the most user data breached since 2022.
The Home Affairs Ministry (KDN) has recorded a loss of RM2.23 billion due to cyber crime.
The statistics are the result of a cyber crime book study published by the Institute of Public Security (IPSOM).
“Our cyber legislation is quite weak causing Malaysia to become a ‘gold mine’ for scammers from inside and outside the country reaping windfall profits,” he said in a statement.
“Many of the existing national cyber laws were enacted before 2010. This means that our current laws are quite outdated.
“The outdated Act needs to be amended as soon as possible in line with the progress of the virtual world without borders to control online fraud through various digital platforms.
“The complete virtual world invites almost all citizens of this country to be exposed to cyber crimes.”
Masiung said that cases of data theft in the country show an alarming increase when it jumps significantly every year.
The Sabah Housing and Town Development Authority (LPPB) Chairman said the data breach was the second-highest cyber crime reported last year involving 5,917 cases.
In Sabah, he said cyber crime including scams has increased over the last three years since September 2020 involving a total of 4,686 cases and more than RM100 million in reported losses.
The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) recorded that the most cyber crimes in Sabah were telephone scams, love scams, non-existent loans, online investments and offenses under the Computer Crime Act 1997.
“Almost every day we are informed of incidents of scammers and online fraud crimes and the increase in these cases is very worrying.
“People, especially internet users, are no longer safe using smartphones and computers because every second is shadowed by ‘scammers,” said Masiung.
He urged law enforcement and security agencies to immediately review and replace the cyber security-related Act with a new and more effective one.
