KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- CyberSecurity Malaysia, an agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), has come up with a set of guidelines entitled "Information Security Guidelines for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)" for the local SMEs.

The guidelines are to assist the enterprise operators secure their critical information and avoid being easy targets for unwanted intruders.

"With the guidelines, it will indirectly boost SMEs participation in e-commerce in the country.

"Most of the SMEs know how to protect their physical assets, however the awareness in protecting information as an asset is still very low," CyberSecurity said in a statement Thursday.

The agency added that in order for the SMEs to survive and sustain in the domestic as well as global market, they must consider information communication technology (ICT) as the platform to grow and not shun it due to the merging threats and risks.

Referring to the guidelines will allow SMEs to maximise their productivity through effective and efficient controls in protecting information as an asset, it said.

"Subsequently it can yield more profit by minimising asset losses," chief executive officer of CyberSecurity Prof Datuk Husin Jazri said.

--BERNAMA