KUALA LUMPUR: Military personnel will be prohibited from using personal mobile phones, laptops and pen drives during training programmes held in specific areas.
The armed forces' Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Division director-general Rear Admiral Datuk Mohd Fadzli Kamal Mohd Mohaldin said these were measures to prevent cyberattacks, including hacking and data breaches, and ensure the country's security system remained impenetrable.
He said the directive was part of the armed forces' efforts to safeguard the nation's security and sovereignty.
He said the move was crucial due to the almost-daily attempts to breach the country's military databases, and was in line with rapidly advancing technology and the use of the Internet in cybercrime.
"Hacking risks are faced by civil servants in every part of the world as long as you (the devices used) are connected to the Internet.
"As a result, the division is implementing an awareness programme on the use of personal gadgets (during training).
"No personal laptops or mobile phones will be allowed to be brought into the (training) areas and the use of pen drives will be prohibited due to the high risks (of being hacked)," he said in an exclusive interview with the New Straits Times Press.
The New Straits Times yesterday reported that foreign hackers had been trying to breach the country's military databases on a near-daily basis, seeking to steal security data, including those linked to the South China Sea.
It was reported that the attempts to breach the databases were constant as the hackers were looking to gain insights into the government's plans and perspectives on the issue and how military operations were arranged.
Fadzli said the technical measures to protect the country's confidentiality and security would first be implemented within the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Division, before being expanded across all armed forces divisions nationwide.
"In the future, we plan for such measures to be implemented in sensitive divisions throughout the armed forces (nationwide)."
However, he said, despite various hacking attempts against the armed forces and other government agencies, the country's digital defence was capable of preventing any breaches.
"We have already ensured the security of our digital networks, including our computers. So far, the system can protect against any cyber threats."