Advisories

MA-1431.032026: MyCERT Alert - Hari Raya Holiday Cyber Security Best Practices
  •   19 Mar 2026
  •   Alert
  •   

1.0 Introduction

As the long holiday for “Hari Raya Aidilfitri” in Malaysia approaches this week, and many of us will be leaving for a holiday break, we would like to alert System Administrators and Internet users to ensure sufficient security measures have been implemented before leaving for the holidays.

Between January and February 2026, the Cyber999 Incident Response Centre received 1,434 incidents, while in 2025, a total of 7616 incidents were reported to us. The most reported incidents are fraud, content-related (data breaches), intrusion attempts & intrusion. Figure 1 & 2 below shows the list of incidents by category for year 2026 & 2025.

Figure 1: Statistics of incidents by category (Jan – Feb 2026)

Figure 2: Statistics of incidents by category (Jan – Dec 2025)

Since the beginning of the year, several cybersecurity incidents have been observed, including system intrusions, Qilin ransomware infections, data breach incidents, scam call impersonation, and fraudulent schemes involving fake government financial aid offers. Attackers commonly use social engineering techniques, malicious links, or exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities to gain unauthorised access to systems or to deceive victims into disclosing sensitive information.

CyberSecurity Malaysia has published several Security Alerts and Advisories to inform and guide Internet users and organisations regarding these threats. These advisories also include information on software vulnerabilities, security updates, and mitigation steps to reduce potential risks. Some related Security Alerts and Advisories are listed below:

Therefore, System Administrators and Malaysian Internet users are strongly encouraged to review these alerts and advisories and implement the recommended preventive measures to reduce the likelihood and impact of cybersecurity incidents.

During festive periods, organisations may operate with reduced staffing or monitoring, which can create opportunities for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities or misconfigurations. System Administrators should remain vigilant and ensure adequate safeguards are in place to prevent threats such as intrusions, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, phishing campaigns, and malware infections, including ransomware.

Data centres and web hosting providers should also take additional precautions by reviewing the security posture of their servers and services. Ensuring that software, operating systems, and third-party plugins are properly updated and patched can significantly reduce the risk of attackers exploiting known vulnerabilities.

Similarly, financial institutions should remain alert to phishing attempts and fraudulent activities that target online banking services. Customers should be regularly reminded to practice safe online behaviour, such as verifying website authenticity, avoiding suspicious links, and safeguarding their banking credentials.

Organisations are also encouraged to ensure that contact information for System Administrators or incident response personnel is readily available, so that any security incident occurring during the holiday period can be addressed promptly.

System Administrators and Internet users should remain aware of emerging cybersecurity threats, apply necessary security updates and patches, and regularly refer to the security alerts and advisories published by Cyber999 for the latest information on threats and vulnerabilities.

2.0 Recommendations
Recommendations for System Administrators :

  • Ensure that all systems, applications, and third-party components are updated with the latest security patches and software upgrades to address known vulnerabilities.
  • Organisations still using outdated or unsupported operating systems should upgrade to supported versions as soon as possible, as older systems are more susceptible to exploitation by attackers.
  • Refer to official vendor websites for the latest patches, security updates, and service packs. Administrators may also consult our advisory portal for relevant security advisories.
  • Ensure that anti-virus or endpoint security solutions on hosts and email gateways are updated with the latest signature files and are configured to scan incoming and outgoing files.
  • Verify that systems and web servers are properly configured, as misconfigurations may expose sensitive information or allow directory listing vulnerabilities.
  • Ensure that system logging and monitoring are enabled so that suspicious activities or unauthorised access attempts can be detected and investigated.
  • Conduct regular backups of critical systems and data to minimise the impact of potential incidents such as ransomware infections or system failures. Ideally, backups should be performed daily and stored offline at a secure alternate location.
  • Implement a defence-in-depth security strategy by deploying multiple layers of protection, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), intrusion prevention systems (IPS), and network monitoring solutions.

Recommendations for Home Users : 

  • Ensure that personal computers, mobile devices, and web browsers are regularly updated with the latest security patches and software updates.
  • Install reputable anti-virus software and ensure it is regularly updated to detect and block newly discovered malware.
  • Exercise caution when clicking on links or attachments received via email, messaging platforms, or social networking sites, especially if they originate from unknown sources.
  • Be alert to online scams and fraudulent activities, particularly those offering festive promotions, prizes, or financial assistance.
  • Users are encouraged to refer to CyberSAFE resources for additional guidance on practising safe Internet usage.
  • Perform regular backups of important personal data and store backup copies on separate storage devices or secure locations to reduce the impact of malware infections or accidental data loss.


Please note that incidents can be reported through our reporting channels, as below, and our staff is on duty to respond to them. If you need to report a critical incident, please call the Cyber999 Incident Response Centre via the 24x7 On Call Incident Reporting channel.

Generally, CyberSecurity Malaysia advises users to be updated with the latest security announcements by the vendor and to follow best practice security policies to determine which updates should be applied.

For further enquiries, please get in touch with us through the following channels:

E-mail: cyber999[at]cybersecurity.my 
Phone: 1-300-88-2999 (monitored during business hours)  
Mobile: +60 19 2665850 (24x7 on-call incident reporting) 
Business Hours: Mon - Fri 08:30 -17:30 MYT 
Web: https://www.cybersecurity.my

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