Malaysia moves to speed up the launch of its military cyber force as attacks grow

Malaysia wants to bring forward the creation of a dedicated military cyber force, a new branch of the armed forces that had been planned for 2030, because cyberattacks are growing in number and severity, Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said on Wednesday, 11 November. He told reporters the ministry had informed the cabinet of the decision and of the need to accelerate the force's formation.

Khaled was answering questions on whether the ministry had detected attempted or successful cyberattacks on the military. He spoke to reporters after a ceremony in which the chief minister of Perlis state, Abu Bakar Hamzah, received an honorary brigadier general rank in the Territorial Army, The Star reported.

The minister said the armed forces had faced cyber threats for some time and that such attacks were nothing new in the defence sector. What had changed, in his account, was that advances in technology were making the attacks more sophisticated and potentially more destructive, and that they were now reaching a much wider range of targets, particularly private companies.

He argued that warfare no longer takes place only on land, at sea and in the air, and said a separate cyber service was needed to sit alongside the army, navy and air force as a specialised military capability. The ministry did not want the country to be caught off guard without adequate preparation, he said.

According to Khaled, cyber capabilities already exist inside the individual services and units, but they are spread out. The ministry wants to pull them together into one force that is more integrated and more effective. A nucleus team has already been set up to work out the new service's organisational structure and requirements.

He did not give a revised target date when asked how much earlier the force could be established. He said the ministry would go to the government for the personnel, equipment and other resources it would need, and that it wanted to move as quickly as possible.

Khaled said intelligence capabilities would be an integral part of the new force, which The Star described as intelligence-driven. He declined to discuss specific intelligence arrangements, operational strategies or capabilities, saying these were military matters that did not need to be shared.

The plan for a cyber service was made public in September, ahead of the 93rd Armed Forces Day. At the time, armed forces chief Gen. Malek Razak Sulaiman said a Cyber Force Nucleus Team would lead planning, coordination, organisational change and capability development, with full readiness targeted for 2030. He said cyberspace and the electromagnetic domain had become arenas of global competition, and that cyber, electronic warfare and spectrum management operations had already been used in the Camar Kilat exercise series.

The push comes as Malaysia raises its guard more broadly. The National Cyber Security Agency, known as Nacsa, recently lifted the national cyber security threat level from low to moderate, and a consumer cyber security group has urged closer vigilance against state-linked hacking groups, according to Bernama reporting carried by The Edge.

Separately, Khaled said the armed forces had put 5,234 personnel on high alert for flood relief during the northeast monsoon, with 589 land vehicles and 344 water craft on standby and air assets available when needed.

Wednesday's remarks indicate that the 2030 date set only two months ago is now seen inside the ministry as too slow, although no new timetable, budget or force size has yet been announced.