SINGAPORE: Malaysia said on Thursday that cybercrime in the country has risen by 88 percent through the end of 2011, according to a government agency. A total of 15,218 cybercrimes were reported last year, up from 8,090 in 2010, said CyberSecurity Malaysia, the government agency in charge of monitoring and preventing online crime. The majority were online fraud, with 5,328 cases, followed by intrusion or attempted intrusion, with 4,433, and cyber harassment, at 459. CyberSecurity Malaysia's chief executive Husin Jazri said the increase in cybercrime has become a serious concern amid the growing reliance of Malaysians on the Internet. Bloggers have continually reported such criminal activity, but they have demanded the government intervene to counter such crimes. “We have reached out to the government in recent months as we have seen more hacking and illegal activity online, but the government has done little until now,” said Alan Ahmadi, a Kuala Lumpur-based blogger. He told Bikyamasr.com that “hacking and stealing is too common on the Internet in Malaysia and it is frustrating to see what is going on. Hopefully the government will take action and make this a priority.” It is estimated that more than 17 million of the country's 28 million people use the Internet daily, with Malaysians spending an average of 20 hours online every week. The government said it will push forward a number of initiatives in the near future to crackdown on illicit actions online, but did not give specific details. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/P9WkH Tags: Cybercrime, featured, Internet, Malaysia Section: Crime, East Asia, Latest News, Tech
