KUALA LUMPUR – The common occurrences of data leaks shows that there are syndicates dedicated to selling Malaysian personal information online.
Speaking to The Vibes’ sister portal Getaran, IT consultant Mohd Ridzman Azzahari said the sale of personal data is mainly done through the dark web.
“There is no denying that there are syndicates who sell personal data. It can be bought online.
“For example, if you search online for ‘WhatsApp blasting services’ in Malaysia, you can deal directly with them.
“You can even ask them whether they have the necessary data. Say that you want to ‘blast’ to 20,000 data (points), they can do that as they have the volume of data you want,'” he said.
Ridzman further claimed such syndicates are often led by companies or individuals who obtained the data through a third party.
So who provided the data? Most of them are from the banking or telco companies which often recycle the same data.
“For example, institutions such as banks and telcos would often give the necessary data to debt collectors, which is a third party.
“But there are companies and individuals who are ‘mischievous’ whose only concern is to sell data.
“Some don’t necessarily work for these companies but there are also the ‘inside men’ who often commit the deed,” he said.
Even though most data leaks today allegedly involved government databases, Ridzman said there are various modus operandi that these syndicates employ.
The issue of data leaks, he said, should be viewed from many angles so that the best possible means can be employed to tackle the issue.
“Many do not see these loopholes that exist. It could come from other companies, not just government databases.
“We can not simply put the blame on government databases as the data are sensitive in nature.
“Government databases are very different. There are agencies that manage them and they have their own way to monitor them,'” he said.
Ridzman also cautioned that data leaked could be caused by human error rather than the fault of any other parties.
“We may not be aware but we could be guilty of leaking our own data. For example, when we simply fill up a form.
“Some forms do not disclose whether the data will be used by a third party.
“When we give the information ourselves, we actually forget that there are certain standards and practices according to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 that we must abide by,'” he said.
This comes after the Communications and Multimedia Ministry has issued an order to internet service providers (ISPs) to block the sale of data on an open-source intelligence website.
Its minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, said the action ordering the removal of the website was issued at around 6.30pm on June 12 after the sale of data from the website was exposed on Twitter on the morning of the same day.
Annuar also stated that a detailed investigation was being jointly conducted by the National Cybersecurity Agency (Nacsa), JPDP, CSM, MCMC, police, and Bank Negara Malaysia. – The Vibes, June 17, 2022
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