Firm tells organisations to step up protection amid recurring leaks

Organisations need to step up their game to implement a data loss prevention system to plug vulnerabilities in their infrastructure as data leakage has become a recurring issue, both globally and in Malaysia, Palo Alto Networks, a United States cybersecurity company said today.

Recently, a group of hackers called “grey hat” broke into the civil servants’ ePaySlip system and extracted nearly two million payslips and tax forms.

“Organisations must develop an effective security strategy to uphold the integrity of their data while it is at rest, in use, and in motion.

“By upgrading defences consistently to keep up with the evolving threats, IT teams can stay ahead of the attack curve and minimise the risks associated with such attacks,” Palo Alto Networks, Principal, Unit 42 Threat Intelligence, JAPAC, Vicky Ray said in a statement.

Among others, Palo Alto recommended that organisations centralise security management efforts such as threat detection and security alerts, control user activities with the least privilege given and implement multi-factor authentication besides email for the verification of third-party applications.

According to the Palo Alto Networks 2022 Unit 42 Ransomware Threat Report, cybercriminals have increasingly turned to dark web “leak sites” to post leaked data, in addition to demanding ransom from their victims.

The research also found that last year, 2,566 organisations’ data were leaked on the dark web globally, an 85 percent increase from the previous year.

- Bernama

Govt has lead on alleged civil servant e-payslip data theft

Govt proposes amending PDPA to better safeguard personal data

Fahmi pushes for data law amendments to enhance protection

TI-M wants progress report of data leak probe

Hamzah concedes to personal data leaks, but NRD not to blame

'100 million personal records stolen, amend data laws immediately'