Hacker group claims to have stolen data from govt agency

An international hacker group claimed to have gained access to terabytes of data from a government agency.

The group, R00TK1T, announced on its Telegram channel yesterday that it had hacked the “Padu organisation”.

Initial reactions implied that the group had hacked the government’s Central Database Hub (Padu).

However, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli clarified on X last night that this referred to the National Population and Family Development Board’s (LPPKN) performance and delivery unit - also abbreviated as Padu.

LPPKN is an agency under the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry, with functions including family planning services. 

It has not responded to the hacking claims as of writing.

While Rafizi and others claimed that the Economy Ministry’s Padu database was unaffected, some have pointed out that LPPKN may have similar personal data about the rakyat.

‘Pressure campaign’

R00TK1T, in announcing its “Padu” hack, shared a photo of a woman’s MyKad as proof of its allegation.

Tech news portal SoyaCincau reported that based on what the hacker group had shared, the data from LPPKN may date back to 2019.

R00TK1T said it had carried out the hack on LPPKN in an effort to pressure the government into acknowledging its cyber attacks on Malaysia.

The group had declared in late January that it was targeting Malaysia’s digital infrastructure.

“Malaysia, prepare for the storm that will leave you shattered and vulnerable.”

In the first week of February, it claimed to have hacked Maxis’ database and gained access to customer data.

Maxis acknowledged that there was unauthorised access to one of its third-party vendor systems but that this was connected to its internal network.

R00TK1T also claimed to have hacked electric vehicle charging infrastructure, although this has not been verified.