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KUALA LUMPUR: With data volumes surging, organisations must prioritise the resiliency of their data infrastructure. According to Hitachi Vantara Chief Technology Officer for APAC, Matthew Hardman, the evolving digital environment demands robust measures to protect critical information, necessitating a proactive data management and security approach. “Many organisations are not fully prepared for the risks posed by cyberattacks and outages. The key to prevention and business continuity lies in having a well-defined data resiliency strategy in place,” he said, following the major information technology (IT) outage on July 19, which affected a large number of businesses and governments worldwide, as it involved 8.5 million devices throughout the globe. “We saw disrupted services and operations across multiple industries, but those hit hardest would have been the businesses that are heavily reliant on uninterrupted computer functionality,” he opined, adding that the businesses in question include banking, healthcare, airlines, emergency services and retail. Hardman provided an example of financial services and online banking services that were taken offline, which would cause delays in patient care in settings where patient records were not accessible – not to mention the flight delays and cancellations worldwide. Explained further, Hardman said the interconnectedness of these industries meant that the outage had a domino effect, whereby one firm going offline meant that other organisations reliant on them also had to stop operations. “Suffice to say, the impact was already significant and we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg of what the real overall impact of the outage has been (or could be). “Ultimately, the incident underscores just how reliant the world is on interconnected technologies and the need for more robust cyber resilience strategies,” he added. Preventing future incidents Hardman said data resiliency is an organisation’s ability to recover from data breaches and other losses, enact business continuity plans quickly, and implement stronger data protection measures moving forward. “It is critical to prioritise data resiliency by implementing best practices in this area,” he said. Businesses can fortify their defenses and warrant service steadiness through several key strategies and should take stock of their current level of cyber resilience, data protection, and overall operational resilience. This, he said, might involve working with internal experts or a trusted partner to assess their on-premises, hybrid cloud, or fully cloud-based environments. Other than the said strategies, he said that having a backup and recovery plan with security measures in place is ‘a good start’, but it is not enough for data resiliency. “A truly resilient infrastructure requires data immutability, consistent deployment processes, and the ability to withstand unexpected system failures,” he said. Organisations need a data resiliency plan encompassing their entire environment both on-premises and in the cloud. Collaboration across the organisation is essential, including addressing shadow IT (unauthorised use of IT applications and devices). “While there is a lot to consider, a trusted data infrastructure expert can support businesses in implementing strategic solutions to improve current data resiliency posture at any stage. Regularly refreshing and rehearsing IT outage response plans are crucial in the digital age,” he said. “Hence, partnering with such an expert allows businesses to identify vulnerabilities and determine the necessary steps to ensure proper data protection, compliance and cyber resilience,” Hardman concluded. Cybersecurity Should Not Be Underestimated Meanwhile, BMI Senior Power and Renewables Analyst, David Thoo said that the power sector should not be undermined when it comes to cybersecurity, given the implications. Whether in renewables or traditional energy, Thoo emphasised that the power sector would always be a target of cyberattacks and as the adoption of renewable energy increases, this could mean that more plants and systems are being targeted. “The main targets of cyberattacks are critical infrastructure including utility networks and power plants. If these attacks can bring networks or power plants offline by infiltrating controls, it will result in major blackouts,” Thoo said. The world is rapidly ramping up its renewable energy capacity in line with ambitious climate pledges. The accelerated transition to green energy comes with new challenges, including concerns about the increasing use of electricity use from renewable sources, which could create new opportunities for cyberattacks. The Malaysian government, through the Malaysia Cyber Security Strategy 2020-2024, has identified 11 Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) sectors – including the energy sector – that must be protected and preserved to ensure the security of the nation, its economy and the public’s health and safety.

KUALA LUMPUR: Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com Inc company, recently launched the AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region with plans to invest about US$6.2 billion (about RM29.2 billion) in Malaysia through 2038. In a statement issued in Seattle, it was said that starting 22 August, developers, startups, entrepreneurs and enterprises as well as government, education and non-profit organisations will have greater choices for funning their applications and serving end users from AWS data centres located in Malaysia. “The construction and operation of the new AWS Region is estimated to add approximately US$12.1 billion (RM57.3 million) to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and will support an average of more than 3,00 full-time equivalent jobs at external businesses annually through 2038. “These jobs, including construction, facility maintenance, engineering, telecommunications and others within the country’s broader economy, will be part of the AWS supply chain in Malaysia,” it said. With the launch of the AWS APAC (Malaysia) Region, AWS has 108 availability zones across 34 geographic regions, with announced plans to launch 18 more availability zones and 6 more AWS Regions in Mexico, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. It said the AWS APAC (Malaysia) Region consists of 3 availability zones located far enough from each other to support customers’ business continuity but near enough to provide low latency for high availability applications that use multiple availability zones. “Each availability zone has independent power, cooling and physical security and is connected through redundant, ultra-low-latency networks,” it said. AWS customers focused on high availability can design their applications to run in multiple availability zones to achieve even greater fault tolerance. “With the launch, AWS is proud to support Malaysia’s digital transformation and help accelerate its role as a regional hub for artificial intelligence (AI),” said AWS Vice-President of Infrastructure Services, Prasad Kalyanaraman. Meanwhile, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Daruk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the launch of an AWS infrastructure region in Malaysia provides access to new and emerging technology for Malaysian entities and businesses of all sizes, boosting our country’s capabilities for digital innovation. He said this milestone is a significant step towards fulfilling the vision of Malaysia’s New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030 to build a highly skilled, innovative, prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy. “We recognise the transformative power of digitalisation, cloud computing and AI as key drivers in Malaysia’s effort to become a manufacturing and services hub within Asia. “As the largest investment made by an international technology company in Malaysia, the AWS infrastructure region will help ensure Malaysia remains competitive on the global stage,” the minister said. AWS offers the broadest and deepest portfolio of services, including analytics, computing, database, Internet of Things, generative AI, machine learning, mobile services, storage and other cloud technologies. Customers from startups and enterprises to public sector organisations and non-profits would be able to use advanced technologies from the world’s leading cloud provider to drive innovation, meet data residency preferences, achieve lower latency and serve the demand for cloud services in Malaysia and across APAC. — BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR: ASEAN is witnessing a pick-up in electric car (EV) sales in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam whereas Thailand is a mixed bag, said Maybank Investment Bank Bhd. The investment bank said that favourable regulations, local brands and penetration of Chinese carmakers will drive sales higher. “We prefer ASEAN companies that partner Chinese car makers for manufacturing and sales and battery value chain companies,” it said. Maybank Investment said that EV sales in ASEAN rose from a low base in the first half of 2024 (1H 2024) in most markets. “Malaysia Reported that EV car registrations rose 142% year-on-year (YoY) to 10,663 fully electric cars in 1H 2024. “Indonesia reported a 104% surge in sales to 11,943, Singapore a 218% YoY jump to 6,019 EVs, surpassing its 2023 numbers. Meanwhile, Thailand reported a strong start in January 2024,” it added. On a global basis, it said EV sales rose 24% to 6.7 million in 1H 2024 or 21% of total car sales. “Sales of full EVs slowed to +13.9% YoY whereas plug-in hybrids accelerated by +59% YoY. “Hybrid sales witnessed faster growth due to saturation and the end of EV subsidies in Europe, weaknesses in the US, lack of charging infrastructure and range anxiety. Recent tariff increases on China-made cars in the US and Europe will have a further impact,” it said. — BERNAMA