QuickCheck: Was a parking payment system recently hit by a cyber attack?

On Wednesday (Jan 19), Penang Smart Parking (PSP) users saw that their balance was RM4.40 regardless of their actual balance in the app.

A message about the technical issue, claiming that the parking app has been hacked, went viral on social media and WhatsApp. Is the claim true?

Verdict:

FALSE

At a press conference on Thursday (Jan 20), State Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo refuted the viral claim.

He added that the matter has been resolved and the system is back to normal.

"The record in the database of the system and the balance of the ewallet were not affected at all. There are no changes at the back end of the system. In short, the database is intact," said Jagdeep.