Published: Tuesday January 12, 2010 MYT 9:09:00 PM

Judiciary boosting security after website hacked

By SHAILA KOSHY

koshy@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The Judiciary will be upgrading the security of its court computer systems, following a hacking and defacing of its website last Thursday.

Security has become crucial with the introduction of e-filing and the online management of court documents last year.

According to court sources, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) had alerted the judiciary to the hacking Thursday night after which the site was taken down.

The hacker, who used the handle “Brainwash,” had issued a threat not to pursue with the matter of the Catholic Church using the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia publication of its weekly Herald.

The hacker had also written: “Allah only restricted to muslim only. Dont touch us as we dont touch you. Unless.....”

Asked whether a police report had been lodged, the sources said yes, adding the SKMM was also conducting investigations.

Asked whether computerised court files were now in danger, the sources said the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit Mampu (which is the secretariat for the Government IT and Internet Committee) had been informed of the hacking and that the security would be upgraded.

The Malaysian Bar on Tuesday welcomed the reports of the police monitoring and investigating the incidents of arson and vandalism against various places of worship this past week.

“These, along with the hacking and defacing of the Malaysian Judiciary’s website last week, constitute attempts to harass, and put undue pressure on, the Judiciary and the judicial process,” said its president Ragunath Kesavan.

“The calls for this matter to be heard by a Muslim judge are counter-productive, as the resulting judgment might also be criticised as biased,” he said, adding that all judges are qualified as each judge takes an oath to defend and uphold the Federal Constitution.

On the news report of a court file that was purportedly found in the house of a man on trial for possession of drugs, but who has since jumped bail, the court sources said the entire file and been sent back to the judiciary on Tuesday. A police report has been lodged.

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