A new information technology (IT) policy will be put in place through the National Framework on Information Security, to protect the information infrastructure from cyber attacks.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik said this would create a "trusted information infrastructure supported by a solid information security policy, laws, regulations and standards".

Officiating at the Information Technology (IT) Governance 2004 Conference in Kuala Lumpur today, he said there are worries that new threats and vulnerabilities arising from the use of IT may be exploited by hostile nations, groups or individuals.

"The freedom provided by cyber space is prone to a mega scale abuse, as witnessed in the last decade. In safeguarding this freedom, development of common understanding and interpretations of security standards and cyberlaws is critical," Lim said.

At the moment the only legislation which oversees matters pertaining to IT and information communications technology is the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998.

Feedback wanted

Elaborating on the proposed framework, he told reporters that industry input could be channeled to the government through his ministry.

"The framework is already incorporated into cyber laws. If new features arise, I would like them to let me know so that we can update laws and provide the protection," he said.

As this is a developing industry, new issues may not been covered in the cyber laws, he explained.

To a question as to what specific steps would be taken to bridge the digital divide, Lim said that relying solely on private companies to provide broadband Internet access would be too slow.

"We will use the existing School net, e-government and all the infrastructure that the government has set up, and provide them with Internet connectivity so that they can use broadband access to create a critical mass," he said.

(Under the e-government concept, all administrative functions of the government can be conducted online. School net serves a similar function but is targeted at schools, which use computers as educational tools.)

The idea, he added, is to prompt families to obtain broadband facilities and therefore pressure companies into expanding their networks and give cheaper access.

Broadband access is currently available to three to four percent of Malaysia's population of 25 million.

According to the latest study, there are four million Internet users in Malaysia as of December last year.