National Cyber Security Agency closely monitors global IT outage impact

KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): In light of the ongoing global information technology (IT) system outage, the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) is actively monitoring the situation and working closely with relevant stakeholders to mitigate the impact and restore operations as swiftly as possible.

NACSA, in a statement today, said it was made aware of a global outage affecting Microsoft users, which has had significant repercussions worldwide, including in Malaysia, as the disruption has impacted various critical sectors such as television channels, airports and banks.

“In Malaysia, we have observed operational disruptions in key areas. For instance, operations at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 2 have been affected, leading to manual check-ins and extended waiting times.

“Similarly, banks have faced system outages that have disrupted transactions and customer services. We want to clarify that this is not a cyber attack, but it is a significant cyber security issue,” it said.

NACSA also said the impact of this outage on Malaysia is considerable as it has caused delays and operational challenges across multiple sectors, affecting both businesses and the public.

To address the situation, NACSA recommends the affected parties to stay alert and continuously monitor announcements, workarounds and updates from vendors to address availability issues and also ensure vigilant monitoring and management of any temporary workarounds to mitigate potential new risks.

“NACSA is committed to ensuring the security and resilience of our national cyber infrastructure. We will continue to provide support and guidance to affected organisations during this challenging time.

“We are in the process of gathering more detailed statistics and will provide further updates as they become available,” according to the statement. – Bernama