Here's How To Know If Your Phone Number Has Been Hacked In The Recent Data Breach
The massive breach is believed to have happened in 2014 and involves the personal details of 46.2 million mobile subscribers in Malaysia.
By John Lim — 16 Nov 2017, 01:00 PM
The uncovering of a massive data breach last month had Malaysians questioning the state of cybersecurity in the country
The breach was brought to attention by local tech news site Lowyat.net. In the article, it was said that the personal data of Malaysians from databases of online recruitment portals and medical associations have been leaked and sold online.
The tech news site also found out that mobile phone numbers and IC number addresses were advertised on forums.
MCMC and other government bodies took notice and investigations were promptly carried out.
A website which emerged over the weekend has claimed to be able to help Malaysians determine if they've been affected by the data breach
Tech blogger and security expert Keith Rozario has collected the leaked databases and used them to create a simple site called SayaKenaHack.com for Malaysians to check if they have had their information leaked.
The information available for checking is currently only limited to main telcos
Rozario added that not all information in the breach is useful for hackers. For instance, the IMEI numbers may be used for fraud, but most people would have changed their phones since 2014; making the number relatively useless for crime. The same goes for IMSI and SIM numbers.
Meanwhile, The Star reported that some had found new mobile phone numbers which they had never signed up for registered under their IC numbers through the website
According to one engineer, only two of the three phone numbers listed in the database belong to him. Another company secretary found that her information was used to sign up for an additional telco line.
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) network security and enforcement sector chief officer Zulkarnain Mohd Yassin told the English daily that it would most likely be a case of other people using another person’s identity to register.