The Malaysian government is investigating data breaches involving more than 46 million people after it detected attempts to sell the data online recently.
The data of several major Malaysian telecommunications firms such as Maxis, Celcom and Digi, as well as mobile virtual network operators, were stolen between 2014 and 2015, according to a report by
Nikkei. A technology news website, Lowyat.net, was reportedly the first to alert the authorities of the breach.
The data contained users’ phone numbers, personal details, and sim card information, and it was being auctioned online for undisclosed amounts of bitcoin.
Several other databases were found online, including those from employment search website Jobstreet and professional associations such as Malaysian Medical Council, the Malaysian Medical Association, and the Malaysian Dental Association.
“We have identified several possible sources of the leaks and will resolve this matter in the nearest possible time,” Minister of Communications and Multimedia Salleh Keruak told the media on Wednesday.
According to MyCERT, a government agency in charge of cyber security, it has received more than 6,000 reports of cyber breaches and electronic fraud from January to September 2017. This was almost the same number for the same period last year.
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