Prof. Ts. Dr Nor Badrul Anuar, Director of the Centre of Research for Cyber Security & Network (CSNET), Universiti Malaya.
Prof. Ts. Dr Nor Badrul Anuar, Director of the Centre of Research for Cyber Security & Network (CSNET), Universiti Malaya, is featured in The Star (Education) on 26 July 2026 in the article "AI-Powered Deception", on the escalating threat of AI-enabled scams targeting young Malaysians, who lost part of the RM2.97 billion Malaysians surrendered to scams last year, with 8,789 telecommunications fraud victims aged 21–30 recorded in 2025.
Three Digital Competencies Every Student Needs
- Verification literacy: checking the source, date, account, URL, and sender identity, and confirming information through official channels
- AI literacy: understanding how to discern authentic voices, images, and messages from AI-generated fakes
- Privacy awareness: recognising that public photos, phone numbers, locations, and school details can be weaponised by criminals
Fluency Is Not Immunity
Prof. Badrul cautions that technological fluency does not equal digital immunity. AI-assisted scams succeed through psychological manipulation, fear, greed, urgency, rather than technical sophistication alone. AI can now produce polished messages in multiple languages, analyse information from public profiles, imitate writing styles, and generate convincing multimedia impersonations at scale.
What Future Cybersecurity Graduates Need
He also outlines the broader competencies future cybersecurity professionals will require: AI security literacy, deepfake awareness, identity verification, and the ability to communicate security concepts to non-technical users.
The full article, written by Jaayne Jeevita and also featuring CyberSecurity Malaysia acting CEO Roshdi Ahmad, is available at The Star.
The feature is part of CSNET's continued public engagement on digital safety education for young Malaysians.