Licensed to Bill? Nations Mandate Certification & Licensure of Cybersecurity Pros

**Executive summary:** Malaysia's upper house passed the Cyber Security Bill 2024, creating an umbrella framework that will require licensing for cybersecurity service providers (with detailed requirements to be specified later); the report compares Malaysia's approach to Singapore and Ghana, argues the regime may raise standards for penetration testing, SOCs, and other services, and flags civil liberties risks such as increased government search/seizure powers and constraints on researchers and free speech.