Cyber threat to online banking
Intrusion and fraud cases on the Internet are on the rise.
In the last six months, 175 fraud cases and 376 intrusion incidences were reported, Ma-laysian Cyber Security Centre training and outreach manager Philip Victor said.
He said about 80% of the fraud cases involved phishing schemes where hackers gained access to personal information of Internet users by getting them to log on to fake links or reveal their passwords.
"Hackers nowadays are financially driven unlike many years ago when hacking was just a fun activity," he said, adding that clients of financial institutions were the ones mainly affected.
"Poor awareness among In-ternet users and unsecured computers are among the reasons phishers are more active nowadays," Victor said.
He was presenting a talk on Security Outlook in Malaysia: Cyber Threats, Myth or Reality? at the recent Penang ICT Week organised by the MCA ICT Resource Centre.
He said if phishing activities were not curtailed, the public would shy away from using Internet banking services, thus hampering the growth of the banking industry.
"Online transactions are safe but users and companies providing the services must be aware of the cyber threats that are out there so that they can protect themselves," he said, adding that the acts of intrusion mainly involved web defacements.
Malaysian Cyber Security Centre is a body under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry.
