KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) has confirmed that its communication network remains secure following hacking attempts.

Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Affendi Buang said the hacking activities had been detected early and preventive measures were implemented accordingly.

He said the hackers used phishing methods to conduct random attacks on the official email network used by several agencies in the Ministry of Defence and MAF.

"The security and cyber defence aspects of MAF are constantly being monitored to ensure that all threats that attempts to disrupt the defence communication network can be dealt with appropriately.

"MAF constantly monitors and improves aspects of cyber security from time to time as a measure to deal with any possible response to cyber attacks by foreign elements that may interfere with the operation of MAF's cyber and ICT systems as well as that of the Ministry of Defence," he said in a statement today.

Affendi said all the actions taken were to prevent further intrusions by hackers who remain a threat to the national strategic defence communications network.

Earlier, media reports stated that a new hacker group, identified as Dark Pink, used phishing emails and advanced malware to compromise defences of military branches in the Philippines and Malaysia, as well as government organisations in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina

-- BERNAMA