Written Reply by Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan to Parliamentary Question on Follow-Up by Malaysia to Protect Information Leaked on Malaysian Vehicle Entry Permit Website

Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked the Minister for Transport with regard to the security inadequacy discovered in the Malaysian Vehicle Entry Permit registration website in April 2019 where details of thousands of foreign motorists, including Singaporeans, have been exposed, what have been the follow-up measures taken up with our Malaysian counterparts to protect the sensitive information of Singaporean motorists. 

Reply by Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan:

1.     Malaysia’s Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) is intended for the installation of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to identify foreign vehicles entering Malaysia. This is different from Singapore’s VEP, which aims to equalise the cost of owning and using a Malaysia-registered vehicle in Singapore with that of a Singapore-registered vehicle. 

2.     Motorists can register for Malaysia’s VEP through the Malaysian Road Transport Department’s VEP website. On 26 April, it was reported that information of other motorists could be viewed by altering the site URL. This affected all registered motorists – Malaysians, Singaporeans and motorists of other nationalities were all affected. The website was taken down the same day and the issue rectified by the next day. The Malaysian Transport Ministry has stated that it treats data security with great urgency as it is of the utmost importance.