Immigration hack: Two officers among six arrested last night

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Immigration Department officers are among six individuals arrested for alleged involvement in the Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS) forgery syndicate and hacking into the immigration database.

All of them, aged between 34 and 42, were picked up around the city last night.

According to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) sources, the other four suspects were technical workers of a system supplier company.

“They were believed to be responsible for installing the device and software to hack into the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs),” the source said.

He said the arrest of the four workers had also led to the discovery and seizure of several computers installed with hacking device and software at the Immigration Department.

The source said the MACC had also identified four hotels in the city that were alleged to have been used as operation centres for the syndicate’s hacking operations.

Meanwhile, MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki, when contacted, confirmed the arrest, saying that “the MACC viewed the hacking issue as a serious threat to the national security.”

“The alleged involvement of all suspects will be thoroughly investigated,” he said.

Last Tuesday, a former Immigration Department staff was arrested with four other individuals for allegedly creating a pathway for the syndicate to hack into the department’s database.

Following the arrest, the MACC had also frozen 147 accounts worth RM9.9 million involving 30 individuals and 11 companies allegedly involved in the syndicate.

-- BERNAMA