Malaysia data breach 'hacked from Oman IP address'

Malaysia data breach 'hacked from Oman IP address'
One of Malaysia's biggest data breaches originated from an IP address in Oman, as the investigation continues into one of the country's biggest hacks.
2 min read
18 November, 2017
The data breach was linked to an Oman IP address [AFP]
One of Malaysia's largest data breaches originated from an Oman IP address, investigators have revealed to local media.

More than 46 million entries of data were accessed by the hackers, which Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission traced to the Gulf state.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun told The New Straits Times he could not rule out workers from telecommunications companies as potential suspects, although no arrests have yet been made.

"Not yet [arrests]... it is not easy as it is a complicated case. However, investigations are ongoing," he said.

Although it is too early to conclude that Oman was the original host of the data leak, there is a high chance a computer from the sultanate was used in the hack.

Data from more than 46 million Malaysian mobile phone subsribers were accessed in the leak.

Information accessed by the hackers include mobile phone numbers, SIM card data and home addresses.

Personal information from around 80,000 people stored by Malaysian medical and dental associations were also leaked.

The hack was alleged to have happened a month ago, Lowyat.net reported, saying they received a tip off that personal data was being sold on to the market.

The site's authors were originally sceptical about the information and the Malaysian communications authority ordered the article to be taken down, malaysiakini reported.

The authority later claimed the gag request was a "miscommunication".

It was later described by Lowyat.net as "one of the biggest data breaches ever in Malaysian history".