KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Police have uncovered the identities of the culprits behind the alleged theft of data from more than 46.2 million cellular service accounts.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Fuzi Harun said that while police have not pinpointed the specific event that led to the data breach, investigators were narrowing down the possibilities.
“The leak of data is said to have occurred during a particular company’s data transfer process, where some of the staff could have taken advantage of the situation and gained the information.
“We believe the company itself is not involved in the crime,” he said at the closing ceremony of the annual assembly between police and civil servants in the force at the Police College in Cheras this morning.
Mohd Fuzi went on to rule out the possible involvement of syndicates in what is believed to be the largest personal data theft in Malaysian history.
The IGP said investigators will also continue to meet with affected cellular providers to gain more details about the source who leaked the data online.
“We are also working to establish the motive behind the leak,” he said.
On a separate case involving CIMB Bank's loss of storage tapes holding backups of client information, the IGP said investigations were proceeding but preliminary findings suggest the incident was the result of negligence.
Last month, tech news portal Lowyat.net reported that 46.2 million mobile numbers from virtually all Malaysia cellular service providers had been stolen and made available for sale online.
Several databases belonging to the Malaysian Medical Council, the Malaysian Medical Association and the Malaysian Dental Association were also reportedly compromised.
