Limited Resources Hinder Data Security in Malaysia

Security experts at Symantec state that companies in Malaysia are aware of the significance of data security but the adoption of right solutions is still lacking in several companies because of inadequate resources which include budget, skill and time.

Symantec 2009 Global Small and Mid-sized Business (SMB) Security and Storage survey has discovered that almost 78% of respondents believe that data breech is the top security concern, and then comes viruses at 76% and phishing at 74%. This survey shows companies alertness to the significance of data safety and their readiness to secure confidential details.

However, the survey has also discovered a moderately low adoption of necessary security measures in Malaysia, as 62% of companies do not have end-point security, like safety for laptops and desktops, and 46% do not have an anti-spam protection and around 40% do not have desktop backup and upturn.

As per Symantec Malaysia, harmful code is rising at record levels. In addition, the report on the Internet usage in 2008 revealed 1,656, 277 harmful code threats last year (2008). This is a rise of 265% over 2007 figures, which is a major increment. Most of these harmful codes work tenuously.

Apart from this, Malaysia is not on the list of top 10 for overall harmful code activities but the country ranks 9 in APJ (Asia-Pacific and Japan) in the bot-infected (robot) systems by country section, which is a drop from number 6 formerly.

In the mean time, cyber attacks against individual, children and business are expanding in Malaysia. Security experts believe that vulnerability has reached offices, homes, social networking sites because of the rising frequency of connectivity to cyberspace.

James Tan, Regional Director of South-East Asia, F-Secure, states that several segments of IT users have still not adopted the right level of loyalty and priority to protect their systems, as per the news by STARBIZ on September 8, 2009.

He also said - Conficker is the major malware that has lately been seen and several Malaysian companies were badly affected. He added that several activities were illegal access to computer systems and sites being affected by harmful codes.

» SPAMfighter News - 9/29/2009