The government had been warned on how weak its firewall is against online attacks, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Heng Seai Kie said.

NONE "We should been alert, but we should now find ways to prevent online attacks, for this the government's security at stake," Heng ( left ) told Malaysiakini .

At least 41 Malaysian government websites were hacked and inundated late last night by an Internet vigilante group Anonymous, which had announced earlier that it would attack the government's official portals to punish it for censoring WikiLeaks .

WikiLeaks

is a website that aims to expose governments and corporations by leaking secret documents. Anonymous said its action was in retaliation of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission's (MCMC) decision to block file-sharing portals.

According to netizens who put up screen captures of one of the hacked websites, the original footer has been replaced with a statement protesting the blockade of file-sharing websites.

"Greetings, Malaysia. We have seen the censorship taken by the Malaysian government, blocking sites like The Pirate Bay and WikiLeaks . Malaysia is one of the world's strictest governments, even blocking out movies, and television shows.

"These acts of censorship are inexcusable. You are taking away a basic human right. The Internet is here for freedom, without fear of government interference. Do not think that no one else notices," says the posting by Anonymous.

It also said that the attack was a "sign, a warning, and an opportunity to listen to ideas above your own" and that the hackers "are obligated to act fast and have no mercy".

MCMC: Personal, financial data not compromised

While MCMC said in a statement today that no personal or financial data had been compromised, Heng noted that the attacks stressed the need to improve the government's security system.

Heng, who was formerly deputy information and communications minister, said the regulators should also embark on finding out who was the "mastermind" behind the attacks.

"We should learn from this bad experience. It's a warning sent to the government that we don't have a strong security system, and it's time for us to look into this to avoid the same thing from repeating," she stressed.

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