PETALING JAYA, May 23 — The Malaysian Immigration System (myIMMs) is vulnerable to power outages and Internet service disruptions, said the company which maintains it.
HeiTech Padu Berhad Group chief executive officer Arif Mokhtar yesterday denied the system used by the Immigration Department was compromised but admitted that it was dependent on Internet connection and power supply.
“MyIMMs is a secure application that accesses various security databases on numerous devices but its reliability also depends on public utilities,” he said.
“There are instances of power outages in KLIA (KL International Airport) and that will cause disruption to the entire system and immigration officers will not be able to access myIMMs on their work desk until power is restored.”
Arif said the auxiliary component of the system was also prone to technical difficulties and would cause the system to experience slowdowns or lags.
“We do have technicians on site to deal with any technical issues with myIMMs and they conduct diagnostics for every reported disruption or incidence,” he said.
“Based on their findings, the system would run fine but they were crippled by support components such as Internet routers or modem affected by a sudden reboot to their system or any other technical difficulties.
“The public amenities at KLIA are the responsibility of Malaysia Airport Berhad and we have no jurisdiction over public utilities.”
According to Arif, the myIMMs system involved many different databases, which are developed and maintained by various parties.
“We provide and maintain the framework for the system but the integrity of separate databases falls under other companies and government agencies,” he said.
“Databases such as those for biometrics and international security are not under our purview as our main duty is to integrate all the data into one platform.
“There is so much we can do with the system but it still depends on the fidelity of other databases and how well they are maintained.”
The national immigration system is backed by five main local companies which create databases and other features used by the system, including HeiTech Padu.
The companies were awarded contracts through direct tender to install myIMMs in 2010.
HeiTech Padu’s contract has been extended since then with another renewal from Feb 18 this year to Aug 17, 2017 to continue to maintain the myIMMs for RM21.48 million.
Arif said Heitech Padu only came into the picture in 2010 when another company failed to deliver on a contract.
“We developed the core myIMMs system from scratch after a previous company went defunct and failed to introduce a security system,” he said.
“We were not involved with the system prior to 2010 but we managed to secure extension agreements several times and this would not be possible if they (Home Ministry) are not happy with the system and our services.
“The Immigration Department even won several excellence awards because they utilise myIMMs but there are always ways and means to transform the system and we are doing just that.”
Last Tuesday, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said myIMMs was prone to breakdowns and would often hang for at least an hour. He also said the system badly needed an upgrade.
