Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stated that he refused to pay a US $10 million ransom demanded by hackers who, in keeping with some reviews, paralysed operations at Kuala Lumpur Worldwide Airport (KLIA).
Anwar described how he had refused to adjust to a ransom demand after a cyber assault on Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), which operates the nation’s airports, within the early hours of Sunday morning.
“After I was knowledgeable about this … I didn’t wait 5 seconds. I stated no,” Anwar stated in a speech on Tuesday. “There isn’t any approach this nation will probably be protected if its leaders and system permit us to bow to ultimatums by criminals and traitors, be it from inside or outdoors the nation.”
Former Malaysian Member of Parliament Wee Choo Keong claimed that techniques at KLIA had been “down for greater than 10 hours”, and that flight info show boards, check-in counters, and baggage dealing with companies had been disrupted.
He posted a picture on Twitter of what gave the impression to be airport workers utilizing whiteboards to record flight particulars for travellers – suggesting digital techniques had been certainly disrupted.
Nevertheless, different social media customers posted photographs of flight info boards at Kuala Lumpur’s airport that gave the impression to be working usually – suggesting the true nature of the issue could have been exaggerated.
Whereas acknowledging {that a} cyber assault in opposition to pc techniques on the airport had occurred, a joint assertion by Malaysia Airports and the nation’s Nationwide Cyber Safety Company (NACSA) denied that operations at KLIA had been impacted.
Anwar stated throughout a speech that the incident underlines the significance of Malaysia to speculate extra sources into defending itself in opposition to hacking assaults, significantly for important infrastructure equivalent to airports and monetary establishments.
Sadly, no detailed info has been launched in regards to the safety breach. Though the assault bears all of the hallmarks of a ransomware assault, on the time of writing no hacking group has claimed accountability.
Whether it is true that KLIA needed to resort to utilizing whiteboards to speak with travellers about their fliught occasions, it will not be the primary time that an airport has been impacted on this approach. In 2018, for example, Bristol Airport within the UK discovered itself pressured to resort to utilizing whiteboards after a cyber assault.
