Kaspersky: Malaysian kids need cyber resilience to navigate the digital world

As cases of online attacks continue to increase in the country targeting individuals and companies, there have been actions to improve cybercrime literacy among Malaysians.

CyberSecurity Malaysia’s Cyber999 Cyber Incident Response Centre has, in fact, logged 3,837 incidents as of August this year, with fraud, intrusion and malicious code amongst the top listed.

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky also revealed recently that the most popular online games for 3-16-year-old children that are exploited by cybercriminals are Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and Roblox.

To help beef up the cyber resilience of Malaysia, Kaspersky and Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) co-presented an introductory cybersecurity awareness and resilience training for PJ Secondary School students. The programme aims to educate the participants on how to keep themselves safe online while helping them build resilience from within. 

Speaking on the initiative, Trishia Octaviano, Academic Affairs Manager for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky says, "Through the workshop, we aimed to educate students about the basics of cyber hygiene and the common dangers lurking online that target them. The reality is that kids nowadays are exposed a lot on the world wide web, which is a double-edged sword. They are vulnerable to different threats that can harm them emotionally, financially, psychologically, and sometimes even physically. It’s essential to equip these young ones with the right tools and teach them proper online behaviour or netiquette so they can navigate the digital world responsibly and safely."

The Kaspersky team provided insights to the participants in malware, the types of attacks and useful tips to protect themselves. The session also addressed the issues of cyberbullying, doxing and privacy, which are not normally highlighted nor widely discussed.

The participants were also treated with cybersecurity-related games that show the realities when one falls victim to such cyberthreats.

In addition, they learned about how positive peer support can lead to better recovery from unpleasant online experiences, which is critical to becoming resilient.

“In some incidents we’ve highlighted, students were left with massive debt and had to spend months repairing their credit. These cases highlight the importance of cybersecurity for students, who can also be victims of cybercrimes. The objective of cybersecurity education is to build awareness among the students on the potential risks they may face online and we are honoured to partner with a brand known for their active advocacy of promoting students’ safety, Kaspersky,” says Mohana Sunthari A/P Munisamy, Officer-in-Charge, Assistant Information Technology Officer at Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya.

For its part, Kaspersky is also actively organising similar initiatives in other countries in Southeast Asia (SEA), with similar projects launched in Singapore and in The Philippines.

To know more about Kaspersky’s cyber resilience initiatives, visit Kaspersky Academy.

About Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya Library

The Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), realising the need for a public library in the Petaling Jaya Township, decided to set one on February 28, 1987. A pro-tem committee registered the Petaling Jaya Book Club, as the library was initially called, under the Societies Act 1966 with the purpose to foster good reading habits among the people of Petaling Jaya. On April 1, 1993, MPPJ officially took over operations of the Petaling Jaya Book Club and renamed it the MPPJ Library. Library membership reaching over 25,000 and the collection of books and materials growing from year to year. In December 1995, the multi-purpose hall on Jalan Selangor made way for the construction of a RM12 million, four-story library complex. The MPPJ library was renamed the MPPJ Community Library (PKPJ) and it moved into a new building in December 1999.