The National Cyber Security Agency will issue a statement on the matter soon, Harian Metro quoted the communications and multimedia minister as saying.

He said Putrajaya had decided to allow only one agency to comment on the incident to ensure that the ongoing investigation was not affected.

“But we have obtained specific leads and action is being taken,” he was quoted as saying.

On Friday, it was reported that police had launched a probe into a claim by a group of hackers who said they possessed such personal data and reportedly plan to sell it from Sept 19 onwards.

The group had alerted Putrajaya on Sept 7 that the salary data system for civil servants had been breached and asked the government for a response by Sept 12, Sin Chew Daily reported.