[WATCH] Transport Malta cyber attack investigation has not yet determined whether data was stolen

An investigation into a cyber attack on Transport Malta's servers at the beginning of October has not yet determined if customer data was lost or stolen, Transport Minister Ian Borg says

Transport Minister Ian Borg
Transport Minister Ian Borg

Transport Minister Ian Borg has said that investigations have not yet determined whether a cyber attack on Transport Malta servers has led to the leakage of data on customers and employees. 

“Investigations have been launched, but till now we do not know whether any data has been leaked,” Borg said.

He was speaking during a post-budget press conference held in Marsa.

Between 25 September and 26 September, Transport Malta suffered a cyber attack that shut down its online systems. Five days later those systems were back up but the authority did not confirm whether any personal information had been compromised.

Borg said that everyone was prone to cyber attacks in these times. “That is the world we live, anyone can be attacked,” he said.

He also said that a magisterial inquiry was underway to investigate the extent of the attack. 

Borg was also asked whether hackers attacked Transport Malta systems to access other government servers, but did not have any information on the issue.

Earlier in October Transport Malta employees were asked to secure their personal data after the cyber attack led to a breach in the authority's servers and intellectual property systems. Clients were also prevented from accessing the authority's online systems.

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi has also been vociferous on the issue, stating Transport Malta will likely have to collect data from scratch, with the hack likely having taken place in November 2019, a year earlier than when the agency realised.

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