No abstract

The progression of information and communication technologies (ICT) use have been matched by the rise in corruption and abuse of technology for criminal activities. In 2018, The Malaysia Computer Emergency Response Team reported 10,699 incidents, of which “fraud” had the highest reported incidents (5,123) and the second highest “intrusion attempt” (1,805) of the total incidents. Malaysia cyber laws have existed since 1997 and are still used today to prosecute cybercrimes. Most recent cases were charged under Malaysian laws—Computer Crimes Act 1997, Copyright (Amendment) Act 1997, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, Personal Data Protection Act 2010, and Malaysian Penal Code—to combat cybercrimes. This chapter discusses Malaysia's cyber laws, cases charged under these laws, and their relevance to combating cybercrimes in Malaysia.

Background: Cybercrime is a fast-growing digital crime and legislation falling behind with the fast-moving advancement of technology. One important factor projected by literature in combating cybercrime is legislation. In order to combat cybercrime, the role of cybercrime legislation is a challenge that has not been clearly studied before. This paper thus aims to recapitulate the literature on cybercrime legislation in combating cybercrime. The literature in this context emphasises on existing studies relating to cybercrime legislation and addressing the importance of adequate and efficient responses in place in order to combat cybercrime efficiently. Methods: This paper finds an extensive literature review using the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” method based on legislation to combat cybercrime and explains a systematic analysis of the legislation in most advanced countries in both technology and legal framework. The study was done by selecting keywords, validated by the experts to discover research trends of cybercrime legislation. A search was then run across seven academic databases, including the ACM Digital Library, Emerald, Hein Online, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Westlaw Asia. Initially, five hundred and forty-eight articles were retrieved and out of which seventy-two studies met the inclusion criteria and were fully reviewed. Results: The findings of the study revealed that comprehensive cybercrime legislation plays a vital role in combating cybercrime and cybercrime legislation should be strengthened, enhanced, and made up to date with the rapid advancement of technology in order to address the rising number of cybercrime. Discussion: This systematic review is timely and highlights future research directions to improve a comprehensive legal framework to combat the rising of cybercrime effectively. To fill the research gap, the findings also have fundamental practical implications for the policy makers, in enacting an up to date cybercrime legislation by highlighting the role of legislation in combating cybercrime.

The era of digitalization is becoming more of a vehicle for exploitation and criminal activities. That said, transnational criminals are increasingly utilizing the darknet or deep web as a medium for human trafficking. Human trafficking is a global problem and the solution requires a comprehensive response to tackle this borderless crime. In the 2018 U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, Malaysia was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. This article reviews the literature on human trafficking, the existing legislations, and their effectiveness in Malaysia to combat human trafficking in the internet and deep web. The article analyzes the existing policies, Malaysia laws and international laws, and instruments that are available to prevent and protect women, children, and migrant workers from being trafficked. This article will also suggest the necessary measures to prevent human trafficking in Malaysia.

Digital tracing is a proven effective means for the Malaysian government to trace and control the spread of COVID-19. However, the process of tracing and tracking in order to manage the spread of the pandemic have in many ways compromised personal information to third party applications. Malaysia is not the only country that uses digital tracing to manage the spread of the pandemic. Various countries have chosen different methods for digital contact tracing to manage the spread of COVID-19 and some are less respectful of privacy than others. This paper analyses Malaysia’s Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) and its effectiveness in protecting personal data during the pandemic as Malaysians continue to utilise the contact tracing mobile applications such as MySejahtera and SELangkah. The researchers applied doctrinal research method and analysed the current Malaysian legislation on data protection. It should be noted that the PDPA does not apply in the case of government collection and would not require federal and state agencies to be transparent in their data management.