KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Malaysia is in the process of joining the Budapest Convention and will sign the United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime to reinforce international collaboration strategies against cyber crime, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the agreement will allow the country to enable cooperation in investigations, the exchange of digital evidence, the extradition of cybercriminals, and information and intelligence sharing with global police agencies such as Interpol and the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Assuming there are no problems, we will sign (the UN convention) in October in Vietnam,” he said during Ministers’ Question Time.
Saifuddin said this in reply to Chong Zhemin (Harapan-Kampar), who wanted to know the number of cyber crime cases reported throughout last year and the Home Ministry’s efforts to enhance digital security for the public.
Saifuddin said that throughout last year, the Royal Malaysia Police opened 46,086 investigation papers, including those under the Penal Code, Computer Crimes Act 1997, Common Gaming Houses Act 1953, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
Meanwhile, in reply to the supplementary question from Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) on the government’s comprehensive mechanisms to curb the misuse of digital platforms, especially in relation to the sale of prohibited items, Saifuddin said the ministry is studying the formulation of a cyber crime bill.
“We aim to expand investigative powers by including provisions for data retention, preservation, disclosure, and real-time collection of traffic data. Offences against data confidentiality, integrity, availability, system intrusion, unauthorised interception of data, among many others, will be covered.
“When the time comes, the Home Ministry will hold engagement sessions and seek further input,” Saifuddin added.
— Bernama
