THE Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and a data security company, Nuemera Sdn Bhd, have been ordered to file their defence in a civil suit brought against them by PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil.

Judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad has set March 22 for case management.

Fahmi was not present today, and was represented by counsel Louis Liaw.

Fahmi filed a civil suit against MCMC and Nuemera over a data breach involving 42.6 million telco subscribers.

He filed the suit to get answers on how the leak had occurred, and what both defendants had done to avoid further breaches.

“This is why, as a telco user affected by the breach, and because it is a matter of public interest, I have decided to take legal action against MCMC and Nuemera for their failure to secure our private information,” Fahmi said at a press conference on February 7 at PKR’s Lembah Pantai office.

Nuemera was appointed to manage MCMC’s public cellular blocking service, which was created to reduce street crime and handphone theft, and works by disabling the phone’s unique 15-digit international Mobile Station Equipment Identity code.

The massive breach was said to have taken place between 2012 and 2015, while the public came to know about it only on October 19 last year.

It affected Jobstreet.com, Malaysian Medical Association, Malaysian Medical Council, Academy of Medicine Malaysia, Malaysian Dental Association, National Specialist Register of Malaysia, and telecommunications companies, including Maxis, Celcom and DiGi.

Police had traced the leak to an IP address in Oman, and previously said the breach could have taken place during a data transaction and involved the employees of a company. – March 6, 2018.