Cybersecurity and Privacy Impact on Older Persons Amid COVID-19: A Socio-Legal Study in Malaysia

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause prevalent issues and risks relating to cybersecurity and data privacy in Malaysia, which should be viewed meticulously and tackled appropriately. Moreover, Malaysia’s ageing population is limited on cybersecurity awareness. The aim of this research is to explore the cybersecurity mindset of Malaysia’s older population and its impact on their well-being. For this purpose, this study used a qualitative methodology aimed at understanding the ageing population’s cybersecurity mindset and developing a supporting policy framework. The issues of concern range from cybercriminals targeting a novice work from home (WFH) workforce with clever phishing scams that prey on victims in an environment of uncertainty. Vulnerable societies such as persons in the above age 60 population are amongst those targeted for cyber fraud. During the COVID-19 pandemic, older persons in Malaysia are unsure of whether or not they are able to share their personal, financial or medical information under applicable privacy laws. Additionally, older persons are still perplexed on tackling cybersecurity issues such as phishing and malware. The researchers conducted online face-to-face interviews and google form surveys with respondents age 60 and above based on qualitative research methodology. The results indicate that many of the respondents from civil service are aware of cybersecurity, however they are still unsure and lack the actual modus operandi of the cyber criminals.