LEMBAH Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil has demanded Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) immediately to investigate the latest attack on the government’s e-salary system.

On Thursday, Chinese-language portal Sinchew Daily claimed that 1 million records and 2 million salary slips had been stolen from a government database in the latest breach of security.

The PKR and Pakatan Harapan information chief described the theft as “very worrying” and a “national cybersecurity crisis that cannot be ignored”.

“This latest incident is an invasion that affects the personal safety of civil servants and the nation’s leaders,” he said in a statement.

Fahmi said, if the report was true, then the attack would be the fourth large-scale data theft reported this year, with more than 25 million records of personal data stolen so far this year alone.

He said this latest attack would mean that personal data of civil servants, including members of the cabinet, has been stolen and could be sold to cybercriminals.

To plug the hole, Fahmi said the prime minister should immediately direct all ministries and heads of agencies to conduct a comprehensive cybersecurity audit.

He said the prime minister also needs to explain the breach to Parliament.

Fahmi further suggested the ministers of finance, and communications and multimedia study a mechanism to penalise those people entrusted to protect the database for failing in their duty.

Meanwhile, he suggested they also devise a mechanism to compensate victims of this type of cybercrime.

“This is to send a very clear message that anyone in control of personal data must be held accountable if the security of the data is affected, and those who are victims of such theft get justice.

“If we realise that three out of four personal data theft incidents this year involved government agencies, then the government must amend the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 to protect everyone within.”

He said the proposed amendment must also take into account the main matters listed in Public Consultation Paper No 01/2020, requiring the involvement of all political parties before it is presented in Parliament this October. – September 17, 2022.