Hackers attack devices belonging to government officials

Prepared by JUNAID IBRAHIM and ALLISON LAI

Personal devices belonging to officials from various agencies, including the defence, tourism, finance and medical sectors, have been targeted by hackers, the Armed Forces Cybersecurity and Electromagnetism Division said.

The Berita Harian daily reported that the division’s director-general, Rear Admiral Datuk Mohd Fadzli Kamal Mohd Mohaldin, said the cyber threat had increased following recent tensions in the South China Sea.

He added that cyberattacks are occurring on a daily basis and hackers are not only looking to steal confidential data stored on personal devices but are also monitoring Malaysian security and defence systems.

“This is mainly because government officials usually store information or documents on their personal devices. Although they do not intend to share this information with anyone, when these devices are connected to the public internet, they expose themselves to the risk of hacking.

“Hackers can access any data and their attempts are not limited to the armed forces but also to other sectors such as finance, tourism and medicine, which we found alarming,” he said.

Rear Admiral Mohd Fadzli said the armed forces had detected two types of hacking activities – personal and organisation-linked.

He added that most hacks were occasional or random in nature and were the work of individual hackers who then sold the obtained data on the black market.

“We also detected attempts by organizations to undertake such activities, but we were unable to locate them precisely,” he added.

In a related report, Rear Admiral Mohd Fadzli said the Armed Forces have always been prepared to confront any cyber threats to the defence system, especially given Malaysia’s strong stance on Palestine. “When our country expresses its support for any global affairs, there are bound to be some parties that are not happy about it,” he said.

> Actor Amir Ahnaf, known for his role as a bully in a local TV series, was himself a victim of bullying at school, Harian Metro reported.

“I was bullied in boarding school from first to second grade and the experience had an impact on me.

“I overcame a traumatic experience and now I know myself better,” said the 24-year-old, who will star in Kahar Kapla High School, a prequel to the popular TV series Project High Council, in which he played the main antagonist.

The Terengganu-born artist said he wanted to raise awareness of the issue of bullying through his work.

“If we have suffered and have not dealt with the trauma properly, we will pass on the pain to our children. So now we will spread awareness through films,” he said.

The above articles have been compiled from native language newspapers (Malay, Chinese and Tamil dailies). Hence, the stories are grouped according to their respective language/medium. If a paragraph starts with >, it indicates a separate news item.