Be transparent in probe into alleged data leak, TI-M tells EC

Be transparent in probe into alleged data leak, TI-M tells EC

Transparency International Malaysia president Muhammad Mohan says it is not the first time that confidential information has been put on sale in the public domain.

Data leaks are a recurring and serious national issue, says TI-M president Muhammad Mohan. (File pic)
PETALING JAYA:
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has urged the Election Commission (EC) to be open in probing the alleged data leak from its MySPR system as accountability and commitment to identify and plug the leaks are necessary.

TI-M president Muhammad Mohan pointed out that data leaks were a recurring and serious national issue.

“(The data breaches) have been met with lacklustre assurances of action and investigation by ministries and agencies,” he said in a statement today.

Muhammad said there seemed to be a lack of sincere accountability in investigating the matter and plugging the leaks. He said justice must be given to the victims, and suspected that corrupt activities had led to the leakage.

A database of more than 800,000 users allegedly sourced from the EC’s MySPR system was on sale for about RM9,300 on a popular database marketplace last week, tech website Lowyat.net reported.

The information is allegedly part of the MySPR system’s Electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) data collected in 2019 when the public was able to register themselves as voters online through the newly launched MySPR Daftar website.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had directed the EC to investigate the matter and explain the data leak.

In August, online payment provider iPay88 also experienced a cybersecurity breach that extracted Malaysians’ card data from online transactions.

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