Personal data leak: IP addresses traced to two more countries

KUALA LUMPUR: In efforts to track down the cause of a leak of personal data involving 46.2 million mobile phone subscribers in Malaysia, the Royal Malaysia Police has identified two more Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in The Netherlands and Hong Kong, according to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun.
This brings the number of IP addresses involved in the case to three, with the first traced to Oman last month.
Mohamad Fuzi said the police who were in the midst of finalising the investigations were having difficulty tracking the e-mails of the owners.
He was speaking to reporters after the closing ceremony of the Inspector-General of Police Tennis Championship and Silat Cup 2017 at the Kuala Lumpur Police Training Centre, here today.
An IP address is a unique set of numbers that identifies a computer so that it can send and receive data from other computers.
Asked if the police would seek the help of foreign authorities, Mohamad Fuzi said at the moment that this was not necessary.
"At present, investigations are being carried out together with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)," he added.
On Nov 1, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak was reported as saying the ministry had identified the source which could be the cause of the personal data leak involving 46.2 million mobile phone subscribers in the country.
He had said the MCMC was working with the police to investigate the matter.
Early last month, the website Lowyat.net published an article that someone was trying to sell 50 million personal data from telecommunication companies and 17 million from job search websites. — Bernama