NEWS IN BRIEF: DEC 7, 2021

In Malaysia, the total of remote desktop protocols (RDP) attacks detected in the first six months of 2021 grew by 53.6 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company, KASPERSKY. 

In a statement today, Kaspersky said from January to June 2021, the company recorded a total of 10.4 million attacks attempts against Kaspersky users in the country with Microsoft RDP installed on their desktops, a significant spike compared to 6.78 million in the first half of 2020.

“RDP empowers Malaysians to continue working remotely. However, this working method has a potential for cyber attempts one of which is a brute force attack that targets the protocols employees use to remotely access company resources.

“A brute force is an attempt to test all different usernames and passwords until the correct combination is found, and they gain access to company resources,” it said. 

-- BERNAMA

MALAYSIA DIGITAL ECONOMY CORPORATION (MDEC), Malaysia’s lead digital economy agency, today announced the campaign updates on the Ministry of Finance-led Belanjawan 2021 Go eCommerce Onboarding and Shop Malaysia Online initiatives.

In a statement today, it said as of October 2021, the campaigns onboarded more than 500,000 businesses and generated well over 85 million transactions with a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of over RM4.6 billion.

“The data collected to date show that over 500,000 sellers have been onboarded onto the campaigns and of this, over 320,000 are new sellers on the e-commerce platform.

The campaigns also registered 157,566 women entrepreneurs, far surpassing the target to onboard 30,000 in 2021,” it said. 

-- BERNAMA

SETEL is innovating to make motorists’ journeys more seamless with Setel Share, the first e-wallet sharing feature in Malaysia that allows motorists to pay for their loved ones’ fuel securely through the Setel app at PETRONAS stations nationwide.

In a statement today, the first e-payment solution for fuel purchases directly from mobile devices said Setel users can create a Setel Share group and invite up to two other members to pay from the same e-wallet balance.

It said owners of Setel Share group have full control to safely track and monitor any refueling expenses by the members via the shared e-wallet.

The new feature allows earning of Mesra points in one account without having the hassle of passing a physical card around that can be used to unlock more rewards.

-- BERNAMA

AFFIN BANK BHD introduces “AFFIN DUO+”, its latest dual credit card product which has been enhanced to elevate the lifestyle of the mass-affluent segment who are on the lookout for offerings that can provide them savings as well as cater to their lifestyle needs.

Its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah Wan Ali said the bank has successfully issued 60,000 AFFIN DUO credit cards and looks forward to acquiring a potential 30,000 cards for AFFIN DUO+ in the first year of its launch.

The AFFIN DUO+ dual credit card product consists of the AFFIN DUO+ Visa credit card and AFFIN DUO+ Mastercard credit card which would be issued jointly.

-- BERNAMA

CENSOF HOLDINGS BHD announced that its indirect subsidiary, CS Cloud Sdn Bhd (CSCSB) has entered into a joint venture agreement with Cloocus Co. Ltd (Cloocus) to jointly develop and operate a “hyperscale (Microsoft Azure)” cloud management with additional Microsoft business involving all activities and transactions. 

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, it said that the board of directors is of the opinion that the agreement is in the best interest of the company.

The agreement shall commence on the date of the execution and shall continue in existence until terminated, liquidated, or dissolved by law or as hereinafter provided.

-- BERNAMA