Maritime Dispute And CyberWarfare Issues And Options For Malaysia

Malaysia has a number of unresolved maritime and territorial disputes with its neighbours. Usually these disputes do not disturb the daily life of Malaysians. However,
the extensive utilization of information technology and the internet has produced a new security threat to Malaysia connected to such disputes - cyber attack. The potential for
such an attack was evident during Malaysia’s recent dispute with Indonesia regarding the maritime boundary in the Sulawesi Sea when Indonesian citizens defaced Malaysian
government websites. Unfortunately, the internet can be used by citizens of disputant countries to attack Malaysia’s information infrastructure and its citizens ’ daily activities. This is because Malaysia’s economy and public services such as banking and finance, electricity, water and public transportation systems are heavily dependant on information infrastructure.