Economist: Solutions for cyberattack defence can be optimised via several steps

Solutions for cyberattack defence can be optimised through multiple strategies, including utilising genetic algorithms, linear programming and metaheuristics.

Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology economist (aviation and aerospace) associate professor Harridon Mohamed Suffian said cyberattacks are menacing, with significant adverse impacts, such as the denial-of-service (DOS) attack, which can disrupt certain services like airline ticketing, check-in, and information board.

“The nature of the attack upon the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was not yet confirmed and the signature of the attack should be discretely identified in order to produce an optimum line of defence,” he told Bernama today.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim revealed that the digital system of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd was recently attacked by hackers demanding a ransom payment of US$10 million.

Anwar, however, said that the government did not bow to the demands of the cyber criminals and emphasised the need to strengthen the country’s systems with additional funding for various agencies, including the police and Bank Negara Malaysia.

Airlines targeted

According to Harridon, Japan Airlines was targeted with cyber attacks back in December 2024, which affected flights and caused delays to a majority of flights operated by the carrier.

He said the attack also utilised the DOS methodology which crippled the cyber network of Japan Airlines and caused massive traffic in the network, subsequently leading to the decline of the airline’s confidence index, though temporarily.

“The attack on KLIA is consequential, and thus, there should be a concerted effort to mitigate the issue as safety is of utmost importance in aviation,” he said.

Cybersecurity consulting firm LGMS Bhd’s executive chairperson Fong Choong Fook has called upon the government and government-linked companies (GLCs) to strengthen the overall cybersecurity strategies, as well as work closely with the private sector.

“They (government and GLCs) should appoint reliable experts with proven cybersecurity expertise and track records.

“(They must) assess the overall security posture of government agencies, apply security fixes, establish continuous monitoring and vulnerabilities remediation programme, conduct cybersecurity awareness to all levels of staff (and) make the entire cybersecurity strategies an integral part of daily operation,” he said.

He added that many critical national information infrastructure (CNII) organisations do not prioritise using real cybersecurity experts to conduct cybersecurity health checks.

He noted that many government agencies and GLCs still viewed cybersecurity engagement projects as information technology projects.

“They do not mind appointing a main contractor and subsequently let the main contractor sub-outsource to many other contractors.

“In this case, there is no assurance of real cybersecurity expertise being employed and accountability,” he said.

- Bernama

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