As the Digital Economy takes the centre stage around the world, the risk of cybersecurity threats has also become prevalent. With threats becoming increasingly sophisticated, the need for cybersecurity experts have grown exponentially.
In order to meet the ever-growing demand of cybersecurity solutions, we have built collaborations between industry and the government to provide cybersecurity startups with access to technical mentoring, business support and advice. By supporting them, they’ll be able to help grow Malaysia’s cybersecurity industry to new heights.
Malaysia’s Cybersecurity Potential
When it comes to potential in the cybersecurity industry, Malaysia is one of the best ranking countries in the ASEAN region. Here are the details:
10,500
Number of cybersecurity talent demand in Malaysia by the year 2020
Source: Frost & Sullivan’s recent digital talent study
TOP
10%
of job opportunities in Malaysia is related to cybersecurity
Source: Talent Pool Report Pro – Oct 2017
21%
The percentage of women in Malaysian cybersecurity workforce
Source: Dec 2017 LinkedIn Report
USD
632.6M
Estimated value of Malaysia’s overall security services market in 2021
Source: IDC Market Security Product and Services Forecast, 2H16
Our Strategic Initiatives
As part of our vision to drive cybersecurity innovation in Malaysia, we’ve introduced a number of initiatives to help bring together large firms to work with startups and industry experts to develop new technologies:
Establish mentorship programs to share domain knowledge, technical and business experience
Establish a platform for local solution providers to showcase their solutions, followed by piloting the adoption on the challenges
Our Programmes
In accordance with our initiatives, we’ve partnered up with institutes of higher learning as well as government agencies to launch programmes that help bridge the national talent gap on cybersecurity.
Conducted by Protection Group International (PGI) UK and Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU), the Skill-Up Programme sees participants undergoing a five-day course covering various aspects of cybersecurity. Those who successfully complete the course are given the opportunity to attend UK GCHQ certified courses conducted by PGI.
In addressing the talent gap and fast-growing industry demand in cybersecurity, MDEC introduced the Empowering Women in Cyber Risk Management programme. This initiative will look into reskilling women who would like to re-enter the job market for a duration of 3-month.
Conducted in partnership with ISACA and our Premier Digital Tech Institutions, the NxFORCE Programme is a four-week long cybersecurity programme that aims to train and develop the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
As tomorrow’s leaders and innovators, youth are a vital talent pool to meet cybersecurity skill demands. Recognizing the importance of this, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) introduced Cybersecurity Immersion Program for Youth, CSI:MY aims to create opportunities for youth in focusing on STEM students and Pre-University students to develop interest, and also as ‘green-lane’ for them to pursue cybersecurity courses at Higher Learning Institution where the ultimate goal is to prepare next generation talent pool in cybersecurity to cater to the industry and cybersecurity professional demands. #csimy
For those who are interested in this programme, the pre-requisites are as follows:
Must be a Malaysian citizen;
Form 4 & 5 students; or
Pre-Universities or equivalent students (Foundation, matriculation, diploma etc)
*Priority will be given to form 5 students and above
CYBER100 (“Challenge”) is a Cybersecurity Innovation Challenge Program. This initiative will look into local innovative start-up and scale-up that can come up with solutions to the Top National Cybersecurity Challenges that will be published.
The Challenge is open to any company that fulfils the following criteria:
A company incorporated in Malaysia with more than 50% of the shareholder(s) are Malaysian; and;
The company should propose local product(s) to resolve the Challenges.