KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Armed Forces has not received any official report regarding threats of external hackers trying to hack into the Defence Ministry system, says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (pic).

       He said on Friday (Dec 10) that the claim came from a private cyber security firm based in the United States.

       "We cannot take action based on a claim by a private firm. My Ministry through the Defence Intelligence Staff Division and MAF Cyber Defence Operations Centre (CDOC) however, are always proactive and they are constantly monitoring hackers trying to hack our system,” he said at a press conference on post 100-day Malaysian Family Aspirations at Wisma Perwira ATM here.

       Commenting on whether the claim made was actually manoeuvering by a foreign superpower trying to dictate current geopolitics, Hishammuddin said that this was possible.

       "Maybe geopolitics and whatever the statement, one superpower will get a reaction from another superpower and a small country like ours, indirectly, has to deal with this situation.

       My job is to look at our security and defence. It is not about the geopolitics and the considerations of certain quarters. We always have agencies and the expertise to determine the validity of the allegations made by them," he said.

       It was reported recently by foreign media that hackers from China are targeting the sites of military forces and government departments of several Southeast Asian countries.

       The report further said that an investigation by a firm based in the United States found that most countries that they are targeting are related to territorial disputes in the South China Sea or strategic infrastructure projects. - Bernama