PETALING JAYA: Voters in the upcoming Melaka and Sarawak state elections have been advised to take screenshots of their polling centre details after a recently identified cybersecurity threat disrupted access to the Election Commission’s (EC) digital systems.
EC secretary Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said voters should check their polling details early and save a screenshot to facilitate the process on polling day.
READ MORE: Sarawak PH alleges cyberattacks ahead of state election
“Voters are advised to check early and save a screenshot of the information to facilitate proceedings on polling day,” he said in a statement today.
He said additional security measures and mitigation efforts were being implemented continuously to strengthen the resilience of the EC’s systems ahead of the Melaka and Sarawak state elections.
The EC has also begun coordinating with the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA), National Security Council (MKN), National Digital Department (JDN) and other relevant agencies to strengthen its systems and prevent further threats.
Voters can check their polling centres through the MySPR Semak portal or application, or contact the EC call centre at 03-8892 7218, which operates daily, including weekends, from 9am to 8pm.
On Tuesday, EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the commission was working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and other relevant authorities following reports of a suspected cyberattack targeting its website.
He said a report had been submitted to the relevant authorities, but that he had yet to receive the full findings. He also said the commission would issue an official statement on the matter.
The development comes days after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim warned on Nov 3 that Malaysia was vulnerable to sophisticated cyberattacks, citing major disruptions to digital infrastructure overseas, including administrative systems.
Meanwhile, the EC is preparing to deploy its Optical Character Recognition-Voter Attendance (OCR-VA) system across all 28 constituencies in Melaka.
The system uses a mobile application to scan voters’ MyKad and digitally record their attendance at polling stations. It was previously piloted at a polling centre in Negeri Sembilan.
The EC has yet to clarify whether the OCR-VA system was among those affected by the cybersecurity threat.
