By Hidayat Muhamad

I remember my childhood, when the internet was a luxury. Pages loaded line by line, and a single picture could take minutes to appear. Back then, we never imagined things like cyber warfare. Our biggest concern was whether the dial-up tone would connect, or if someone picked up the phone and cut the line.

We were taught that communication meant letters, phone calls or maybe the first mobile phones that felt like bricks. Short Messaging Service (SMS) cost us a fortune, and we would maximise every character to save money. No one told us that one day, the invisible cyberspace would shape our security more than walls, fences or even bullets.

The evolution of the Royal Signals Regiment

For 73 years, the Royal Signals Regiment (RSR) of the Malaysian Army has carried one mission above all – to make sure the message gets through, no matter what stands in the way. From the days of field telephones and radios to satellite links and encrypted data streams, the RSR has been the unseen backbone of every operation.

What once meant running cables through the jungle now means defending networks across domains. The modern Signaller works in a space where the enemy does not march with rifles but hides behind codes and malware. The battlefield has expanded, no longer marked by borders or terrain but by the reach of a network.

Today, the RSR stands at the intersection of cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum. This is where communication, intelligence and technology merge to form what we now call Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities, or CEMA. Here, every interference, every signal jam, and every breach attempt becomes a potential act of war.

Our airport systems, broadcast companies, power grids, banking networks and military command systems are all connected and vulnerable. A single cyberattack could paralyse what once took armies weeks to conquer. We have already seen how ransomware and digital sabotage can disrupt industries and daily life in Malaysia. The threat is real, even if unseen.

Yet, when people speak of defence, they often imagine soldiers with rifles, jets in the sky or ships at sea. Few think about the networks that keep them connected. Without strong communication and cyber defence, even the best weapon becomes useless.

Lifeline in crisis

In the old days, slowness was just an inconvenience. Waiting for the internet to load was annoying but harmless. Today, a few seconds of network disruption can mean lives lost, operations delayed or classified information exposed. The stakes have changed, but awareness has not kept pace.

The same truth shows itself during disasters. During floods or earthquakes, power failures often lead to the collapse of communication systems. Phones die, signals vanish and connection becomes as valuable as water.

In those moments, tactical field communication provided by the military and communication agencies becomes the lifeline of coordination and rescue. Deployable assets not only restore emergency coverage but also ensure interoperability, allowing police, fire and military units to speak in one digital language when every second counts.

A call for digital resilience

The Royal Signals Regiment today, under the Malaysian Army, and the regiment’s leadership, represent resilience and determination to keep Malaysia's defence connected, aware and secure even when the enemy strikes unseen. In both peace and conflict, the RSR guards the nation’s voice and digital battlefield.

But hope alone is not enough. Just as we invest in ships, jets and armour, we must invest in secure communications, CEMA capabilities and cyber defence infrastructure.

Adversaries are already testing our boundaries, quietly probing our digital infrastructure. If we wait too long, decisions about our own networks may one day be made elsewhere, far beyond our reach.

In a world where data holds power, defending our digital space is as vital as defending our borders. Yet the military cannot do this alone. Cybersecurity must be a shared responsibility, a partnership that spans government, private industry, and society as a whole.

Every step towards digital resilience strengthens more than just our networks. It strengthens trust, independence, and national confidence. The battles of the future may not be fought with noise and fire, but in silence, through data streams and electromagnetic waves.

For 73 years, the Signallers of the Royal Signals Regiment has stood quietly in the background, ensuring that no matter the challenge, on land, through the airwaves or across the digital frontier, our nation's defence remains connected, protected and never silenced.

Always, swift and sure.

-- BERNAMA

Hidayat Muhamad is a cybersecurity analyst with the Royal Signals Regiment of the Malaysian Army.