Hishammuddin: Big powers respect Malaysia

Defence minister says intelligence agencies working with Malaysia against cyber crime.

BEIJING: Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said countries with the skills, expertise and capabilities are cooperating with Malaysia to combat cyber crime.

He said collaboration with other powers were ongoing and that Malaysia was working closely with intelligence agencies of the United States, United Kingdom and China.

“People are not aware of this Malaysian advantage — the trust and respect that the super powers have for Malaysia and their willingness to cooperate with us,” he told reporters after speaking on Asia-Pacific security trends at a defence forum today.

Hishammuddin said observation and intelligence sharing about militants’ use of cyberspace was very important because Islamic State extremist group uses social media to get support and recruit members.

“In the past, Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah used cyberspace and internet to hide their identity as a group of militants; today cyberspace is used to promote IS ideology. That’s the difference between militancy then, and now,” he said.

He said the dissemination of IS information in cyberspace was a new phenomenon; information was not only coming from Islamic countries but the response to it from the west was also extraordinary, like never before.

On the growth of Islamophobia, or fear of Islam in the West and other countries, Hishammuddin said it only revolved around minority groups who use Islam to hijack the real Islam.

“The time has come for the moderate majority of ummah who hold on to the true face of Islam to rise up and confront them. This responsibility should be highlighted through forums like this, today,” he said.

– BERNAMA