SHAH ALAM - The government needs to be transparent in dealing with the issue of data leakage allegedly due to negligence or misconduct involving agencies under it.
Cyber security expert Fong Choong Fook said transparency was essential to prevent unwanted incidents from recurring in the future.
He said the issue of leakage of information or personal data should be taken seriously because the victims are the community in this country.
"I am not sure whether the government is implementing cyber forensics on this issue, but I hope the government is transparent in dealing with this matter because it involves the public’s personal data.
"This is because we find that most of the data leaks that occur today are beyond the control of users. For example, government data leaks,” he told Sinar Harian on Monday.
He said this when asked to comment on whether the cyber forensics conducted by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was effective in addressing the issue of personal data leakage.
It follows the Personal Data Protection Department, revealing that there were six causes of leakage of information or personal data of the community in the country to third parties.
Fong reminded the public not to share personal details with unknown third parties such as as strangers and individuals who sell services or products in public places.
"For example, those who promote credit cards in shopping malls, strangers reaching out via phone calls, filling in unnecessary personal information on physical application forms.
"These examples are actually the basis that requires reasonable thinking by all parties. So, make sure all our personal information is not disclosed to unknown parties,” he said.
Clearly, the issue of personal data leakage is not something trivial but a big problem that needs to be addressed together.