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New milestone for Malaysia's cybersecurity industry
   
The launch of the new Asia Cybersecurity Exchange (AsiaCyberX) platform on 4 April 2018 is expected to elevate Malaysia as a hub for cybersecurity talent and entrepreneurship.  

Deputy Minister of Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia (KKMM) Dato' Sri Jailani Johari, who officiated the launch, said: "Cyber security has become one of the most pressing issues of our time. Recognising these risks, the Government has established the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) as the leading cybersecurity government agency for development and implementation of national cyber security management policies and strategies."  

Also present, MDEC CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood commented: "Malaysia talent demand will reach 10,500 by year 2020, according to a recent digital talent report by Frost & Sullivan. To rapidly strengthen Malaysia's cybersecurity industry, MDEC has designed a double barrelled strategy, which is to harness market driven cybersecurity innovation - and to address critical cybersecurity talent gaps."  

The AsiaCyberX initiative is supported by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). 

AsiaCyberX also serves as a key catalyst for the cybersecurity ecosystem, both locally and regionally, said LGMS' CEO Fong Choong Fook. “AsiaCyberX’s mission is to identify undiscovered cybersecurity talents and entrepreneurs with huge growth potential. With our training and mentorship programmes, we aim to elevate Malaysia’s cybersecurity ecosystem to a whole new level by strengthening the capabilities local talent and entrepreneurs.” 

“By increasing the diversity of the cybersecurity workforce, we believe we will be able to create a broader pool of cybersecurity talent and to muster the right talent to develop rich responses to the increasing threat of cybersecurity attacks,” added Fong, a 20-year cybersecurity veteran and who has advised and trained multiple government bodies and multinational companies throughout the Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Africa regions. 

AsiaCyberX is solely owned by ACE Accelerator Network Sdn Bhd, and was formed out of a partnership between LGMS and the ACE Group, which is involved in financial services, investments and capital management. A fund of RM100 million is available for start-ups with high growth potential in the area of cybersecurity. Asia Cybersecurity Exchange. 

More major moves

In conjunction with the launch ofAsiaCyberX, several Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involving MDEC, Axiata, ACE, Cybersecurity Malaysia (CSM) and Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) were also signed. 

• Major MoUs signed with key organisations including CyberSecurity Malaysia to boost research, capability building and training 

• A fund is going to be made available for startups with high growth potential in the area of cybersecurity  

MDEC is also partnering with LGMS to rollout a 12-month MDEC Cybersecurity Development Program.  

“This will be achieved via a full schedule of activities, including cybersecurity conferences, hackathons, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) roundtables as well as industry collaboration workshops over the next 12 months,” said Datuk Yasmin. 

“The partnership is all about the best and most effective way to build talent in a very critical area as quickly and effectively as possible. MDEC, as the key agency responsible for developing the digital economy recognises that AsiaCyberX can be such a platform,” she said. 

The partnership aims to train as many as 240 cybersecurity talents in 12 months and hopes to continue scaling up operations as soon as possible. Datuk Yasmin added: “This partnership is a model example of successful Malaysian private-public partnerships, more so in the critical area of cybersecurity.”