Kaspersky and APU Forge Alliance to Elevate Cybersecurity Education in Malaysia

TL;DR

• Kaspersky and Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cybersecurity education in Malaysia.
• The three-year collaboration focuses on curriculum updates, faculty development, and technical knowledge exchange to bridge the industry talent gap.
• The partnership directly addresses critical industry weaknesses in Malaysia, including a shortage of qualified personnel and reliance on outdated threat intelligence.
• The alliance aims to produce industry-ready professionals essential for achieving Malaysia’s goal of the digital economy contributing $30\%$ to the GDP by 2030.

In a decisive move to bolster Malaysia’s digital future, Kaspersky, a globally recognized leader in cybersecurity, has formally entered a three-year partnership with the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU). The two entities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance the nation’s cybersecurity education and actively prepare a new generation of industry-ready professionals.

This collaboration is strategically timed. Malaysia maintains a national ambition for the digital economy to contribute $30\%$ to the country’s GDP by 2030, an objective strongly supported by the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), which explicitly identifies cybersecurity as a core enabler of the country’s industrial and digital transformation. However, a critical deficiency persists in the supply of qualified cybersecurity professionals. Recent data from Kaspersky’s 2025 global survey reveals that only $17\%$ of Malaysian cybersecurity professionals express full satisfaction with their organizations’ cyber readiness. Key vulnerabilities cited include a shortage of qualified personnel ($14\%$) and outdated threat intelligence ($28\%$), underscoring the pressing necessity for robust academia-industry collaboration to mitigate this gap.

A Joint Approach to Talent Development

The three-year initiative sees Kaspersky and APU commit to working hand-in-hand across several foundational areas. The partnership seeks to advance academic programmes and training by implementing comprehensive industry-aligned curriculum updates and supporting faculty development.

Furthermore, the collaboration includes extensive technical knowledge exchange and various capacity-building initiatives. These efforts are specifically designed to significantly improve graduates’ readiness for specialized cybersecurity roles within Malaysia’s rapidly evolving digital economy.

Commemorating the MoU signing, the partners are hosting a full-day event that features technical talks and a Kaspersky Interactive Protection Simulation (KIPS) competition. This event takes learning beyond the confines of the classroom, providing both educators and students with invaluable hands-on exposure to critical incident response protocols and realistic, real-world cyber defence scenarios.

Cultivating Enduring Cyber Resilience

Simon Tung, General Manager for ASEAN and AEC at Kaspersky, emphasizes that true cybersecurity expertise requires continuous learning, collaboration, and exposure to emerging challenges. He affirms that this partnership with APU constitutes a foundational investment in enduring cyber resilience for both current educators and students—from those initiating their education to early-career professionals seeking to advance through expert-led training. The ultimate objective is to cultivate a strong, future-ready ecosystem that actively safeguards Malaysia’s digital growth for years to come.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thang Ka Fei, Senior Head of the School of Technology at APU, concurs, describing the collaboration as a bold stride toward shaping the future of cybersecurity. He posits that uniting APU’s acknowledged excellence in technology education with Kaspersky’s global leadership in innovation facilitates the cultivation of a new generation of digital defenders. The joint mission is to build a talent ecosystem that not only preserves the security of the digital world but also pioneers new frontiers in secure technology development.

Alignment with Global Knowledge Sharing

This new partnership aligns seamlessly with the Kaspersky Academy Alliance. The Alliance is a global initiative that connects universities and research institutions worldwide to effectively bridge the cybersecurity knowledge gap. It accomplishes this through dedicated academic collaboration, shared research partnerships, and essential practical skill-building programmes.

In Malaysia, this is not Kaspersky’s first academic endeavor. The company has previously collaborated with institutions such as Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, and Universiti Kuala Lumpur to deliver specialist training. These collaborations have provided students with practical, real-world exposure to cyber investigation practices. Expanding beyond academia, Kaspersky also works with grassroots communities, schools, and NGOs, delivering hands-on workshops and awareness programmes that foster digital resilience from an early age.

The combined efforts of Kaspersky and APU serve as a powerful model for addressing the urgent need for skilled cybersecurity professionals, strategically preparing Malaysia’s workforce to meet the sophisticated demands of its digital future.