KUCHING: The Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) has organised a Cybersecurity Workshop attended by representatives from 24 agencies involved in critical
infrastructure and service provider companies.
The workshop aimed to discuss and formulate plans and strategies that chart Sarawak’s path in the aspect of cybersecurity.
According to Sarawak Deputy Minister for Utility and Telecommunication, Datuk Liwan Lagang, cybersecurity is important in its digital economy policy which is a key driver for economic development in the region.
As such, he lauded the organisation of the workshop as an appropriate platform for exploring the use case of cybersecurity related matters.
"We have our digital advisors here all from SMA to see if the related laws passed in the Parliament are suitable to be implemented (in Sarawak) for cases of misuse, including those involving cyberbullying,” he said.
Datuk Liwan said this in a press conference in conjunction with the Cybersecurity Workshop, which was held at a leading hotel here, on Monday.
Meanwhile, SMA General Manager, Dato Dr Anderson Tiong Ing Heng said SMA is responsible for reviewing cybersecurity guidelines and is currently collaborating with the Federal government on matters relating to the new Cyber Security Act.
“We are also developing our own guidelines for both the government and private sectors, with a primary focus on critical infrastructure such as power, utilities, and so forth.
“So that will be our first phase. Once we have covered all of those, then we will move on to other services or infrastructure,” he said.
Dato Dr Anderson also explained that the Sarawak Civil Service Digitalisation Unit (SCSDU) is working together with Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (SAINS) for implementation of cybersecurity policies to safeguard government data.
“Given the focus on digital governance, SAINS has to replace (outdated) policies and guidelines. It has also adopted the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification in Information Security Management System (ISMS),” he added.
Also present during the event were Permanent Secretary to the Sarawak Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication, Jafri Lias, Chief Scientist and Chief Digital Economy Advisor, Professor Jugdutt (Jack) Singh, Technical Advisor of SMA, Peter Chia, Chief Strategic Cybersecurity Officer of SMA, Jonathan Ng Hong Ping, and others. -UKAS news
