KUALA LUMPUR: Five men, including a Pakistani expert hacker, have been detained in connection with a syndicate which stole 400 million pieces of Malaysians’ personal data for sale, Bukit Aman revealed.
Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said access to a portal was available for a monthly rental fee of between RM200 and RM800 to those interested.
“There was also data sold directly to buyers for RM1.50 to RM2 for each piece,” he told a press conference at the CCID headquarters here yesterday.
He said the four Malaysians and foreigner, aged between 34 and 52, were nabbed in a first-ever operation against such a data syndicate, codenamed Ops Kapas on Sept 5 in the Klang Valley.
The Pakistani and one of the Malaysians were believed to be a hacker and web portal designer respectively, he said, adding that two others were agents and another an unlicensed debt collector who bought the stolen data.
“The Pakistani was the mastermind due to his hacking skills. We believe he entered Malaysia as a general worker about 10 years ago.
“He was quite the cyber expert,” he added.
Comm Ramli said the syndicate, believed to have been operating for about a year, was detected by CyberSecurity Malaysia after it monitored a website with data of users who were registered with various companies and agencies.
“The data was obtained through hacking of systems used by companies and agencies,” he said.
Comm Ramli said further investigation led to police identifying a web portal called Query Smart Search, which stored the data including names, MyKad numbers, addresses, bank accounts and phone numbers.
He said most of those who bought the data or rented access to the website were unlicensed debt collectors.
“We are tracking several other syndicates that we believe are conducting similar activities,” the CCID chief said.
Asked whether any inside job element was involved, he said this was being investigated.
