‘Leaks’ identified

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have identified several suspects who are believed to be behind the massive data breach involving over 46 million mobile phone subscribers.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the suspects all work for the same company.

“I can assure you t hat no syndicates are involved in the case. We also believe the company itself is not involved in the crime.

“We have some leads pertaining to the matter,” he said after attending the 11th assembly of civil servants in the police force at the Police College in Cheras yesterday.

Mohamad Fuzi said Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department is working with service providers to pinpoint the source of the leak, but the motive has yet to be established.

He said initial investigations revealed that the breach could have occurred during a data transfer, when a number of employees of a company were able to take advantage of the situation.

The breach was first reported last month by online forum Lowyat.net, which s a i d i t had r e c e i ved information that someone was trying to sell huge databases of personal

information. Lowyat.net had on Monday said the leaked data was allegedly sold for an undisclosed amount in the digital currency, Bitcoin.

The data contains mobile phone and MyKad numbers, addresses, and SIM card information of 46.2 million customers from at least 12 Malaysian mobile phone operators.

The data is also believed to contain private information of more than 80,000 individuals leaked from records of the Malaysian Medical Council, the Malaysian Medical Association, and the Malaysian Dental Association, according to Lowyat. net.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief operating officer Mazlan Ismail had on Tuesday said the regulatory body had met local telecommunications companies to facilitate the investigations.

On the recent loss of several tapes containing backup data belonging to the CIMB Group, Mohamad Fuzi said police have ruled out sabotage and believe it was due to negligence.

CIMB had on Nov 8 reported that the magnetic tapes were lost in transit during routine operations.

On businessman Datuk Sri Liow Soon Hee, who has been charged with assaulting three Rela personnel and for drug use, Mohamad Fuzi said there was no travel restriction on him as the court had not issued one.

“He is free to travel but when the time comes, he has to face the law. We are also investigating previous cases he was allegedly involved in,” Mohamad Fuzi said.

Meanwhile, police are also verifying a recording of a phone conversation which was widely circulated on social media, in which a vernacular school teacher allegedly persuaded a woman to let her teenage daughter have sex with him, with the promise of employment for the girl.

“We need a report from the (woman) to proceed with the probe. We have also recorded a statement from the man,” he said.