MALAYSIA established the Cyber Force Nucleus Team which will serve as the foundation to establishing the Malaysian Armed Forces’ (MAF) fourth branch of service by 2030. Launched during the MAF’s 93rd anniversary celebration by defence minister Khaled Nordin and Chief of Defence Force (CDF) General Malek Razak, the nucleus team will comprehensively assess all requirements for establishing the Cyber Force alongside the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).
Its first director appointed is Brigadier General Abd Razak Sipit who is also the director of the Defence Intelligence Application Division at the Malaysia Space Agency (MYSA). According to the minister, the Cyber Force is expected to be fully operational by 2030 to be based in the capital of Kuala Lumpur, drawing its personnel from the 3 branches while also recruiting personnel with expertise in relevant fields such as information technology. and artificial intelligence (AI).
“This is aimed at establishing the initial steps towards strengthening national defence preparedness in facing threats in the digital era, especially in the cyber and electromagnetic domains. This includes developing the organisational structure, formulating new operational doctrines, coordinating the staffing and integrating the four main pillars of CEMA, C4, INTEL and SPACE. All of these are critical initial steps that will determine the long-term direction of our MAF forces in the future,” Khaled said.
CDF Gen Malek said prior to the launch that “This nucleus team will plan and explore how to turn the Cyber Force into a reality and have it fully operational based on the ministry’s guidelines, to be realised by 2030. We looked at models from other countries that have already incorporated this domain into their services. This is a very urgent need and we cannot afford to be left behind.”
From October 5-7, Cyber Digital Services, Defence & Security Asia (CyberDSA) 2026 is scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur’s MITEC, convening senior government, cybersecurity, defence, finance and technology leaders. Held in partnership with Asia Collective, the conference is built around three strategic pillars: The Future of Digital Trust, Defending Digital Battlespace, and Protecting National Critical Infrastructure.
CyberDSA 2026 is expected to welcome 9,000 trade professionals from 45 countries, 160 participating companies, 100 speakers and more than 55 cyber leaders from 15 nations. CyberDSA is supported by the Ministry of Defence, MAF and the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Division (DCED).-–shp/adj/dl (Pix:MINDEF)
