Universiti Malaya

Universiti Malaya, also known as UM or the University of Malaya, is a higher education institution headquartered in Malaysia. Its primary function involves providing tertiary education and conducting research across various academic disciplines. As a university, its core services encompass undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, scholarly research endeavors, and contributions to knowledge dissemination within Malaysia and internationally. The institution serves students, academics, and the broader community through its educational programs and research outputs.

The university operates digital systems to support its administrative and financial functions. One such system is the Universiti Malaya E-Pay Cashless Payment and Records portal, designed to facilitate electronic transactions and manage related records for university stakeholders. This portal represents a critical component of the university's internal infrastructure for handling payments and associated administrative data securely. Maintaining the integrity and availability of such systems is essential for the university's daily operations and service delivery to its community.

A notable cybersecurity incident involving this institution occurred on October 17, 2019. On that date, the Universiti Malaya E-Pay Cashless Payment and Records portal was compromised by unauthorized actors. The attack resulted in the portal becoming temporarily inaccessible to users and suffering defacement. The attackers altered the portal's appearance, displaying messages that included the hashtags #NoRasis and #UndurVC. Following the incident, the university administration publicly confirmed the breach and assessed its impact. They explicitly stated that no sensitive data belonging to users or the institution was compromised during this specific attack. The university further communicated that efforts were underway to restore the affected E-Pay portal to its normal operational state promptly. This incident highlights the cybersecurity challenges faced by educational institutions managing essential online services.