Leading Innovative Technologies & Systems Sdn Bhd (LITS) is exploring compensation for local councils affected by the June 29 cyberattack that disrupted parking and enforcement systems across multiple jurisdictions.
The parking technology provider said discussions were ongoing, but declined to share the form of compensation or when a decision would be made.
The cyberattack disrupted systems serving 48 local councils, along with several other public and privately operated parking sites.
LITS manages 5.7 million registered users across the Flexi Parking, Smart Selangor Parking and Sabah Smart Parking apps.
About 44,000 transactions worth some RM857,000 − including user top-ups, monthly parking passes and compound payments − were affected.
A user commented, in an online post, that a RM100 Smart Selangor Parking top-up made on June 29 had been debited from his account but was not reflected in the app when he checked on July 2.
Other social media users questioned whether motorists would receive parking compounds during the outage as they could not make parking payments.
In Selangor, state local government and tourism committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim had told affected local councils to suspend parking enforcement while the system was offline.
LITS shut down its systems at 3pm on June 29 following the cyberattack.
Core parking and compound payment services resumed at 4am on July 2, about 61 hours later.
LITS chief executive officer Lai Thiam Sin said council-side systems were restored on July 3, although some continued suspending enforcement until external e-wallets and agent payment channels became operational.
Payment channels using the LITS backend, including external e-wallets and agent apps, were restored on July 6.
Lai said all affected user credits had been reinstated.
During the first five days of the outage, the company received about 2,000 emails and hundreds of social media messages daily from affected users.
He said LITS did not have figures on compounds reviewed or cancelled during the disruption, as such decisions rested with the respective local councils.
Shah Alam City Council (MBSA), in a written reply to StarMetro, said its enforcement officers were unable to verify parking payments while the system was down.
“As a result, parking enforcement was suspended throughout the outage.
“No compounds were issued,” it said.
MBSA is also assessing a compensation claim arising from the disruption, citing concerns over user data security as well as losses in parking and compound revenue.
Lai called the recovery process an “all-hands-on-deck” operation, with programmers working around the clock for three days.
Besides rebuilding the affected systems, he said the team responded to enquiries from local councils, state officials, parking users, payment agents and operators of off-street parking facilities and electric vehicle charging services that relied on the company’s platform.
“We had questions from municipal councils, the various states and mayors who called me to ask what happened,” added Lai.
LITS said users who continued experiencing problems with restored credits could contact its support team at 1-700-819-612 for assistance.
