Mastercard has announced its partnership with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to establish a Cyber Innovation Hub aimed at building a cyber-ready workforce in Malaysia. This initiative is set to expand industry expertise and strengthen the country’s cyber resilience capabilities to ensure its digital economy is future-proof. The satellite UTM-Mastercard Cyber Innovation Hub will leverage Mastercard’s cybersecurity expertise and UTM’s education infrastructure to offer skills training and cybersecurity-related courses to students and mid-career professionals. The partnership will also include collaborations on cybersecurity-related research, proof-of-concept projects, and joint research and development projects to drive innovation in specific areas of cybersecurity and analytics.
The partnership between UTM and Mastercard will be a significant step forward in helping to grow the number of cybersecurity experts in Malaysia. As per CyberSecurity Malaysia, the country reported 20,000 cyber-crimes in 2021, amounting to RM560 million (USD$126 million) in losses, up from 17,000 cases in 2020. The skills training and courses conducted at the UTM-Mastercard Cyber Innovation Hub will offer a unique combination of practical cybersecurity training and knowledge, as well as industry insights. A joint Mastercard-UTM cybersecurity certificate will be issued upon completion, and a special training program will be offered first to academics, thereby creating a pool of cybersecurity educators.
Mastercard’s partnership with UTM will help combat evolving cyber threats and maintain a safe, secure digital ecosystem for everyone. This collaboration will address the current talent shortage in the cybersecurity space and create career opportunities for people in Malaysia. The initiative is part of Mastercard’s commitment to developing and growing the cybersecurity ecosystem through partnerships, which regionalize expertise by bringing together security and intelligence professionals in Malaysia to jointly monitor, detect and respond to cyber threats.
9 March 2023
