Hacked parliament Web site must be revived quickly
By Sreejit Pillai
3rd January 2001 (Malaysia.CNET.com)

KUALA LUMPUR--The Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCert) said the recently hacked Parliament Web site should be revived as soon as possible.

"We have adviced them to revive their Web site by today as this should be the immediate measure in a situation like this and the hacker should be traced after the homepage is set up again," MyCert project head Raja Azrina Raja Othman said.

The Sun also reported that experts from the Malaysian Administrative, Modernisation and Management Unit (Mampu) who monitor security features of government Web sites are said to be closely working with the Parliament's IT specialists.

Mampu's information and communication technology department head Mohd Azman Musa told the daily that two IT specialists have been sent to Parliament to analyze the extent of the damage done by the hacker nicknamed "Topeira."

"Topeira" had defaced the Parliament Web site and posted Portugese graffiti on the site. The damage which was only discovered last Saturday, caused an uproar among government officials, opposition politicians as well as the general public.

MyCert's Raja Azrina according to The Sun is optimistic that the hacker could be tracked down even if he or she is a foreigner.

Based on the traces the hacker left behind, she said they would be sufficient to catch "Topeira."

Under the country's Computer Crime Act 1997, people found guilty of hacking, could be fined up to RM500,000 or jailed up to five years or both. The law is also effective outside the country.