Pendekar Siber: Empowering Young People to Combat Cyber Threats

ABSTRACT

Pendekar Siber is in the Malay language which means a cyber warrior. A cyber warrior is a computer expert engaged in the defense of information systems against cyber-attacks. It refers to an educational program to groom young people to empower themselves and their peers capable to combat cyber threats. This is because cyber threats are on the rise especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and movement control orders (MCO). Cyber threats to children are becoming more significant since they were dependent on electronic gadgets and computer devices to do online learning activities at home. Although MCO had been lifted and schools were reopened, children are still reliant on these gadgets to play online games, watching content on social media and interact with their online friends. Some of them cannot be separated from these online activities until they neglect their studies and affect their physical and mental health. Despite the responsibilities of parents to monitor their children's use of gadgets, this paper posits the role of young people to address these threats. Thus, Pendekar Siber program was introduced, community engagement programs were conducted, and surveys were carried out at a bottom 40% (B40) urban poor community in Selangor, Malaysia. The surveys were done to understand the children's Internet use and their cybersecurity awareness. Based on our findings, this paper recommends ways that can be implemented by empowering young people to address cyber threats faced by themselves and their peers. © 2022 IEEE.