PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has not ruled out the possibility that the network failure which triggered a system outage at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 was caused by an act of malicious intent.
The New Straits Times in a front page report on Saturday said system disruptions at the two terminals, which had affected operations for almost four days, could be due to a cyberattack.
In a statement today, MAHB chief executive officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin said they would leave it to the authorities to conduct a full investigation into the disruptions.
“We have not ruled out the possibility that the failure was caused by an act of malicious intent.
“Nevertheless, we will leave it in the hands of the authorities to do a full investigation on the matter,” he said.
The NST had reported that technical glitches, which disrupted operations at the two terminals since Wednesday, could have been caused by network switches being crippled by malicious malware.
Raja Azmi, assured passengers and the public that the network at KLIA and klia2 was stabilising.
He said MAHB remained committed to providing service of the highest quality and that it would continue to monitor the situation.
“Despite the network disruption in the last few days, we wish to reassure the public that the security aspects at the airport have remained intact.
“This was possible due to the close cooperation given by the Immigration Department and the police.
“While we have extended all possible assistance to the airlines during this period, the same level of assistance, cooperation and understanding was also given to us by the airlines.”
The technical glitch, caused dozens of flight delays, affected the Flight Information Display System (FIDS), check-in-counters, Baggage Handling Systems (BHS) and WiFi availability.
MAHB promptly replaced the malfunctioning network equipment and has since been closely monitoring the stability of the systems.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said his ministry would set up a committee to investigate the failure of KLIA’s TAMs and recommend measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
The committee will be headed by the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Mohd Khairul Adib Abdul Rahman.
The committee also includes Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) executive chairman Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Mavcom member Datuk Seri Long See Wool, Civil Aviation Authority Malaysia (CAAM) member Afzal Abdul Rahim, CAAM chief executive officer Ahmad Nizar Zolfakar, National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA) chief executive Md Shah Nuri Md Zain and representatives from the ministry’s aviation department.
Loke said the committee would have a month to complete its report and submit it to the Cabinet.
He also said he appreciated the patience and understanding shown by passengers affected by the network failure.