By Asmahanim Amir
Pictures by Abd Raai Osman

BANGI, 9 Feb 2018 – The Budapest Convention is the pursuit towards establishing a common criminal policy regarding the protection of society against cybercrime by adopting appropriate legislative measures and international cooperation, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dato’ Sri Azalina Dato’ Othman Said.

She said the government of Malaysia acknowledged that the Budapest Convention is the first multilateral treaty and in fact, the only multilateral treaty existing so far in dealing with the crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks and the traditional offences committed by means of computer systems.

“The advancement of the digital age challenges the conventional notion of security. The nature of cyberspace that are borderless, anonymous, complex and interconnected poses unprecedented challenges to the government and stakeholders,” she said while delivering her speech at the Opening Ceremony of the High Level Round Table Discussion on Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, in UKM, recently.

She said on the basis of safety, the Government of Malaysia  established the Special Cyber Court to adjudicate and dispose of cybercrime offences.

“This Special Cyber Court has started operations in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur since 1st September 2016.

“The court will also be expanded to other states that had recorded the highest number of cyber crime cases in stages,” she added.

She hopes the High Level Round Table Discussion will bring into light the complexity of cybercrime and most importantly, suggestions on appropriate legislative, technical and administrative solutions for the government to consider.

“Thus, this High Level Round Table Discussion could be a platform to assess the compatibility of our laws, benefits and impacts and of course the challenges and concerns of acceding to the Budapest Convention,” she said.

Also present to the ceremony is UKM Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali, Deputy Chief of Mission US Embassy Kuala Lumpur, Dean Thompson and Head ofCybercrime Division, Council of Europe, Alexander Segar.