Data Centre Boom Expected To Boost Malaysia’s Cybersecurity Capabilities - Kaspersky

From K. Naveen Prabu

GUANGZHOU, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s growing data centre industry is expected to strengthen the country’s cybersecurity capabilities, according to global cybersecurity company Kaspersky.

The company’s managing director for Asia-Pacific, Adrian Hia, said Malaysia’s emergence as a regional data centre hub would help raise cybersecurity standards across the country’s digital ecosystem.

“Just as Singapore benefitted when hyperscalers such as Amazon, Microsoft Azure and Google established their first regional data centres there many years ago, Malaysia can experience similar benefits.

“When these operators bring higher cybersecurity standards and stronger protection, those standards spread throughout the ecosystem,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Kaspersky Cybersecurity Weekend 2026 here today.

Hia said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be a key focus of cybersecurity efforts as they become increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats. “Cybercriminals are no longer only going after large organisations where they can demand ransomware payments of RM1 million or RM2 million. Now they are also happy with RM20,000, which is an amount many SMEs can pay,” he added.

He said this underscored the need to strengthen cybersecurity hygiene, raise awareness and increase cybersecurity spending, particularly among SMEs in Malaysia.  “As one of the leading cybersecurity companies, we also play our part. We have many programmes with Malaysian universities where we share cybersecurity knowledge and curriculum. These are not profit-driven initiatives, and we continue to support them today,” he said.

— BERNAMA