Site operator of Sayakenehack has taken down the site as it becomes unaccessible as of today after a series of close encounter with authorities blocking the site temporarily.
After posting on his blog notifying that he will no longer make the site available, Keith Rozario the owner of the website feared that by keeping the site will only cause more problems for him. In case you’re wondering what’s the drama about the website is all about, here’s a brief introduction.
A few weeks back a local tech news portal noticed someone advertising millions of Malaysians citizen database for sale on the forum, in fact they were 42 million of them. Since then MCMC, the agency tasked to handle multimedia related matters issued statements the case is now being investigated by the cops and MCMC officers. Breach of private information of millions is serious business, the leak has now been traced back to 2014 with phone numbers, IC details and user names are said to be available on the data. But both relevant authorities and the police have been sketchy on the exact details of the breach.
While the data continues to reside in cyberspace, the blogger Keith Rozario sets up a blog site SayaKenaHack giving the public free access to check if their information has been violated and available on that particular leaked database. By typing the mobile phone number, you will be informed if your data has been hacked.
Good Intentions
His intention was merely to allow the public the right to know if their private information has gone public.
He added:
I believe that if you’re data was leaked online, you have a right to know.
You might choose to “not know”, but that is a right you can choose to exercise. No one should be allowed to withhold that information from you.
I believe that you have a right to know about it, in a timely manner. Authorities can’t sit on the data for weeks without letting you know on any pretense.
I believe that the correct authority to do tell you about leaks is the MCMC. But till today they have made no attempt to create such a service, not even communicated a plan to implement one. There is no evidence to suggest they have (or had) any intention to do anything about it.
If I can code sayakenahack within 4 weeks (in my sparetime, while holding a 9-to-5 job, being a father and husband) there is no logical reason why the MCMC or the telcos couldn’t do something better in a shorter time-frame.
Valid questions from a part-time techie, shouldn’t the public be aware such a breach and have the right to know while hackers and geeks can easily retrieve these database. He also reiterates that he does not keep or own any of the information and assures that the site does not store any of the information the people type in.
(you can read his full blog here)
So why is he the target?
Don’t Shoot The Messenger
When sensitive data is leaked, responsible parties in charge of safely keeping these information should be hauled up and that’s exactly what we have heard thus far. The police have already identified the perpetrators and the company and certain individuals who might been involved are being investigated.
Taking on the cause and offering public service can be misinterpreted by the uninitiated, the law works in mysterious and sometimes in unfair ways at times. Yes, data is leaked, yes whoever knows about dark web or Tor can easily access the data and yes the public has the right to know. But the law prohibits anyone or any site beside those permitted by the authorities to provide services like what Sayakenahack is offering.
While we thank Keith for raising the awareness on privacy, the lack of forthcoming by stakeholders shines light on incidents like this, which we fear is not the last time we are going to hear of.
