Amarjit Singh

Both parties today inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to exchange security information and technical know-how, develop local information technology security expertise while offering real-time online threat intelligence services to the public and private organisations in Malaysia. Fortinet, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is a leading provider of network security appliances and the leader of the unified threat management (UTM) market worldwide.

"Cyber criminal activities are on the rise. In the first quarter of this year, there were 3,563 cyber security incidents reported, with 1,273 related to online fraud, including 400 phishing attacks targeting Malaysian banks, said CyberSecurity vice-president (cyber security responsive services), Adli Abd Wahid. Last year, CyberSecurity received a total of 8,090 cyber security incidents, a significant leap from the 3,564 in 2009. Adli said following the partnership with Fortinet, CyberSecurity can leverage on Fortinet's platform to share information, create awareness as well fight emerging threats. Meanwhile, Fortinet's regional director for Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, Datuk George Chang said the partnership will promote security best practices to a broad spectrum of Malaysian organisations. "It will also bring security awareness to a higher level, which will help enhance the country's competitiveness. "Changes in business and technology are accelerating the need for a paradigm security shift. Many local organisations are starting to realise that they have to guard against new technologies as much as they have to leverage on them," he added. According to Chang, Fortinet's site in Kuala Lumpur is one of its main technical centres worldwide, providing round-the-clock threat monitoring and pan-Asia regional support.