According to MyCert, most of the affected websites were defaced with hate-filled messages aimed at certain organisations in Malaysia, though no specifics were given. — dpa
The Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCert), one of the departments under CyberSecurity Malaysia, has released an alert warning of mass defacements of Malaysian websites in the lead up to Merdeka Day, with the agency reporting a spike in such incidents since Aug 28.
According to MyCert, most of the affected websites were defaced with hate-filled messages aimed at certain organisations in Malaysia, though no specifics were given.
Local tech website Lowyet.net reports that the National Cyber Security Agency – an agency under the National Security Council – has also issued a similar notice, with its National Cyber Coordination and Command Centre (NC4) observing "an increase of various attack attempts targeting numerous organisations in Malaysia" and noted "a few campaigns targeting Malaysian organisations for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), web defacement and malware infections" over the last few weeks.
In light of these developments, MyCERT strongly recommends that System Administrators take the necessary steps to secure their systems against unwanted incidents as well as other security threats by deploying firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), network and host-based intrusion detection systems (IDS) to prevent and log most of the generic attacks, and ensuring that systems, applications and third-party add-ons are updated with the latest security patches.
Organisations are also advised to upgrade to the latest versions of operating systems or software to avoid potential vulnerabilities in older versions, and to ensure that all systems and networks are properly configured so as to avoid unwanted incidents such as data leaks or cyber breaches.
MyCert also recommends regular system vulnerability assessments as well as regular backups of all critical information to limit the impact of data or system loss, and encourages organisations to report security incidents to the relevant authorities.
The Star has reached out to CyberSecurity Malaysia for more details.
According to MyCert, most of the affected websites were defaced with hate-filled messages aimed at certain organisations in Malaysia, though no specifics were given.
Local tech website Lowyet.net reports that the National Cyber Security Agency – an agency under the National Security Council – has also issued a similar notice, with its National Cyber Coordination and Command Centre (NC4) observing "an increase of various attack attempts targeting numerous organisations in Malaysia" and noted "a few campaigns targeting Malaysian organisations for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), web defacement and malware infections" over the last few weeks.
In light of these developments, MyCERT strongly recommends that System Administrators take the necessary steps to secure their systems against unwanted incidents as well as other security threats by deploying firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), network and host-based intrusion detection systems (IDS) to prevent and log most of the generic attacks, and ensuring that systems, applications and third-party add-ons are updated with the latest security patches.
Organisations are also advised to upgrade to the latest versions of operating systems or software to avoid potential vulnerabilities in older versions, and to ensure that all systems and networks are properly configured so as to avoid unwanted incidents such as data leaks or cyber breaches.
MyCert also recommends regular system vulnerability assessments as well as regular backups of all critical information to limit the impact of data or system loss, and encourages organisations to report security incidents to the relevant authorities.
The Star has reached out to CyberSecurity Malaysia for more details.
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