KUALA LUMPUR, 14 FEB – The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) are set to recruit computer hackers as a new military asset to bolster the country’s defence system in line with efforts to develop its future forces.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the unit would focus on non-traditional threats such as cyber security, digital threats, and electromagnetic defence.
“Someday we will recruit skilled and talented military personnel who can become hackers and so on. Many young people out there are involved in e-sports. So, we may consider their relevance to be absorbed into the ATM.
“The wars of the future will be fought through systems alone. That’s why we need to study it so that we don’t fall behind because other countries, especially Singapore, have already made it the fourth pillar in their military service system.
“Singapore already has its own hacker unit, complete with uniforms,” he said.
He made these remarks at a press conference after officiating the Kick-Off Launch of the Half-Term Defence White Paper Study, yesterday.
Also present were Chief of the Armed Forces, General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman, and Deputy Defence Minister, Adly Zahari.
Further commenting, he said the goal of establishing such a unit could also strengthen control and monitoring systems in the country’s waters and borders against any smuggling threats.
“We share borders with many countries and we need to monitor drones that enter. We understand that smugglers are now using drones; they want to know where our security forces and operations are, so they won’t land in those areas.
“That’s why they can still land (smuggle) because they monitor using drones. So, how can we disable their drones so that our actions are more effective than theirs?” he said.
At the same time, he believes that such an approach will become the norm for military forces in recruiting new members.
“In fact, many analysts predict that battles or power struggles will involve more sophisticated technology such as unmanned drones and digitally controlled assets.
“All of this forms the basis for us to seriously consider the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data, and digitization in the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the ATM,” he added. – airtimes.my
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