Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has mentioned that he refused to pay a US $10 million ransom demanded by hackers who, in accordance with some experiences, 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 mentioned no,” Anwar mentioned in a speech on Tuesday. “There is no such thing as a manner this nation will probably be secure 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 methods at KLIA have been “down for greater than 10 hours”, and that flight data show boards, check-in counters, and baggage dealing with providers have 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 methods have been certainly disrupted.
Nevertheless, different social media customers posted photographs of flight data boards at Kuala Lumpur’s airport that gave the impression to be working usually – suggesting the true nature of the issue might have been exaggerated.
Whereas acknowledging {that a} cyber assault in opposition to laptop methods 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 mentioned 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 vital infrastructure reminiscent of airports and monetary establishments.
Sadly, no detailed data has been launched concerning 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 duty.
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 manner. In 2018, as an example, Bristol Airport within the UK discovered itself pressured to resort to utilizing whiteboards after a cyber assault.
