KUALA LUMPUR — The National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa) recorded 5,110 cybersecurity incidents from January to September this year, compared with 5,837 incidents last year.

Nacsa chief executive Dr Megat Zuhairy Megat Tajuddin said the higher number of incidents recorded last year was largely driven by intrusion attempts and potential attacks, which were detected at an early stage.

He said Nacsa’s National Cyber Coordination and Command Centre (NC4) had also issued nine alerts and advisories in October and November this year, concerning security vulnerabilities affecting National Critical Information Infrastructure (NCII) entities and government agencies.

“It is important to understand that not all cybersecurity incidents have the same impact, and Nacsa’s main focus is on incidents which have the potential to disrupt the country’s essential services,” he told Bernama here today.

He said the cybersecurity incidents recorded included a ransomware attack on Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd in March 2025, which caused disruptions at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for more than 10 hours.

Commenting on the viral Live Map & Ranking display, which placed Malaysia among the countries receiving the highest number of cyber attacks, Megat Zuhairy said the figures were based on monitoring through specific cyber security products and platforms, widely used by organisations in Malaysia.

“The sensors installed enable proactive monitoring of detected cyber activities and traffic, providing an overview based on data from these sources.

“Additionally, Malaysia is one of the key data centre hubs globally, and this position means that a large volume of international internet traffic passes through the country, either as a target of cyber attacks, or as a transit route to other destinations,” he said.