Padu remains secure with zero successful cyber attacks, says Rafizi

KUALA LUMPUR: There have been zero successful cyber attacks against the Central Database Hub (Padu) out of over 70 million attempts recorded since January 2, says Rafizi Ramli.

The Economy Minister said Padu has continued to endure over two million to 2.3 million cyber attacks on average every week since its launch day.

Of the many forms of cyber attacks, Rafizi mentioned that Padu’s Intrusion Prevention System has stopped the most attacks so far.

"The team has successfully used IPS to stop over 68 million cyber attack attempts from Jan 3 to March 4.

"The team has also successfully performed around three million firewall restrictions since the Padu’s launch on Jan 2," he said in his winding-up ministerial replies on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (March 11).

He also noted that from Jan 2 to Jan 3, Padu experienced over 28 direct denial of service (DDoS) cyber-attacks.

"We have prepared various steps to deal with this type of attack, and there have been no more DDoS attacks since Jan 3," Rafizi said.

He added that all the cyber attacks had been launched from inside the country as Padu had been geo-fenced since its launch.

"Since launch, we made the decision to launch Padu with geo-fencing so only those within Malaysia can access Padu.

"If we hadn't launched Padu, we would have been open to attacks from across the world," he said.

Rafizi then commended the Padu team for working around the clock since its launch to keep the service safe.

"They work 18 to 20 hours a day to ensure that no cyber attacks have succeeded.

"Even as we discussed here, the team has continued to carry out their duties responsibly," he said, adding that this proved civil servants were capable.

Since Padu’s launch on Jan 2, security has been the primary concern of both cyber experts and people alike, with many worried about the database being hacked.