Madius places his palm on the tablet to officiate at the conference while from left, Amirudin, Ariffin (second right) and Harun look on.
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia should develop its capability in producing local talents in cryptology to reduce our dependency on imported security products, said Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangau.
“We realize that in the process of strengthening our capability in cryptology, the top priority includes developing more expertise in this field so that we can develop cryptology technology using local talents.”
He said cryptography was important to Malaysia as our nation is one of the countries at risk of cyber attacks on governmental, financial and other institutions.
As a sovereign country, Madius said, Malaysia must have the capability to build our own algorithm so information disseminated, especially pertaining to government security, would not be attacked.
“Cryptology must be home-grown and we must avoid using foreign products and technology. Having local technology and products in cryptology will reduce our dependency on imported security products,” he said when officiating at the fifth International Cryptology and Information Security Conference 2016 here yesterday. The event, which runs from May 31 to June 2, has drawn participants and researchers from eight countries.
Cryptology 2016 is the fifth among a series of open forum conferences for avid researchers of theoretical foundations, applications and any related issues in cryptology, information security and other underlying technologies to contribute to this body of knowledge.
The event is organized by CyberSecurity Malaysia in partnership with the Malaysian Society for Cryptology Research (MSCR) supported by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
If going by the numbers of registered members of the MSCR, Madius said, Malaysia has a long way to go to be able to engage in all aspects of cryptology.
“Nevertheless, the interest in cryptology is growing, and since the inception of the MCSR in 2007, I was informed there has been an increase of 300 per cent in membership.”
In Malaysia, Madius said the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) was mandated to lead the National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Agenda.
“This role is not about exploring, developing and utilizing STI for knowledge generation, wealth creation and societal well-being but also about ensuring an enabling ecosystem in which STI can thrive. Part of an enabling ecosystem is the aspect of cyber security that acts as a shield for the nation’s economic development.
“There is much STI involved in cyber security and it is a vital part that must be effectively addressed in our journey towards becoming a competitive, sustainable and inclusive high income economy.”
He said the country needed to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution which concentrated on technology.
“We now see cloud technology, computing technology, including mathematical modeling, changing our lives in ways we have never seen before, which have strong implications to our economy in the future. So the government is concerned about the availability of talents to drive this.”
Madius said the interest of young people taking up mathematics and science in schools was on the declining trend. As such, he said, the government was in the midst of coming up with strategies to create new interest in science, engineering, technology and mathematics.
During the event, CyberSecurity Malaysia introduced new cryptographic analysis tools known as CSM Randomness Test Tool (CRTT). The tool was developed to analyze randomness properties produced by random or pseudo random number generators.
Randomness properties are important in cryptography especially when used to generate a secret and without it the security of cryptography key may be compromised. This can lead to data leakage.
With a simple and easy to use design, CRTT is able to conduct the required analysis using 15 statistical tests, complete with analysis report and only required minimal interaction with the user.
Also present were MSCR president Dato’ Dr. Hj Kamel Ariffin Mohd Atan, CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer, Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, deputy secretary general of science from MOSTI, Associate Professor Dr. Ramzah Dambul and UMS vice chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr. Mohd Harun Abdullah.