YOURSAY | ‘Important to get it right the first time, or people would lose faith.’

Govt swiftly fixes Padu system after public finds security breach

ManOnTheStreet: Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, I have helped design population data software like this on a smaller scale and I can see your officers are making so many “juvenile level” mistakes.

1. Information given out to the population is poor. You have not had sufficient population engagement. One percent effort for a 99 percent need.

No one knows if this system is compulsory for all or only for those requiring subsidies.

No one knows the consequences of not registering. No one knows what the minimum "syarat" (requirements) are to qualify for subsidies and thus the "need" to register.

2. Also, there is poor information on alternatives to registering. There needs to be a physical place for everyone to go to for help if they are semi-literate or not IT-literate such as the post offices. We don’t have 100 percent internet access across the country. 

There needs to be non-smartphone alternatives such as integration of data into our physical MyKad and to make this available to those without a smartphone or internet access.

3. Your basic security issues could have been avoided by running extensive trial runs and pilot runs. Test the security by hiring anti-hacking security companies to do trial runs.

4. Your wholly government-developed approach was sadly naive. It was obvious from day one that the “expertise” was poorly equipped to do the job.

You should have invested a bit into making it a private-public partnership, possibly getting university experts too. This combined team approach could save costs and produce a far better product.

5. You should learn from this that you should not rush projects. Not in government, you can’t.

You risk half-baked implementation like this. It is always better to get things right the first time around rather than push out ill-prepared products like this. People will immediately start to lose faith.

Existential Turd: There are technical loopholes, and then there are structural loopholes. Technical loopholes can be easily fixed, like the one in this news article.

But structural loopholes are far more entrenched. We see people using fake identity cards in elections. This problem has not been eradicated.

The lack of transparency and accountability in MACC and various other governmental offices have not provided any answers and safeguards to the victims of fraud, kidnap, and murder.

People always blame the improper implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) as the source of the failure and not its intention.

Perhaps the “improper implementation” was intentional and built-in. Until the structural problem is fixed, no governmental programmes can be trusted.

Unspin: The biggest risk of Padu is that it contains consolidated personal data from 20 ministries in one single location. A hacker just has to access that single location to hit the jackpot.

Previously, the hacker had to break into 20 different systems to get personal data. If the Economy Ministry is not careful, Padu could end up being the mother of all data theft in the country.

I suggest that Padu drop the idea of a consolidated view and use targeted information instead. Just extract enough information to ascertain whether an individual is qualified for aid or not. 

The rest of the personal information including biometric data (that are not relevant to giving aid) can remain with the respective ministries in separate firewalls.

KK Voter: “Swiftly fixed” is the correct term, but yesterday Rafizi denied the existence of such a loophole.

The same thing happened during the MyJPJ launch when loopholes were addressed on the fly while denials were issued. 

Hopefully, when more loopholes are inevitably discovered, Rafizi will refrain from following the predictable script of denial, quiet fixes, and insults directed at those who expose the loopholes.

Focusapp: This is the tip of the iceberg. Minor bugs are ok but security breaches are not acceptable. The trust deficit remains.

I doubt Rafizi will apologise. No matter what, user acceptance tests must have been conducted extensively before going live.

The launch of Padu on Jan 2, 2024, appears to be a rush job to show some “results”. This is hasty and reckless.

Anonymous_3f4b: What sort of programme and system is Padu? Another flawed public delivery system.

All the big talk and big launch by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim but so many errors were encountered by users on day one itself. 

Padu is not foolproof. It is haphazard and prone to security breaches even before rolling out to the public.  

The smart alec minister involved should resign over this national fiasco.

Unicorn2046: One year in the making, very Padu (solid) indeed. Correct me if I’m wrong: but what function does it serve?

They are asking people to input their data, including income, and other data for the government to decide on subsidies.

Then isn’t it just a questionnaire with glorified non-security? How is Rafizi going to verify the data? How is the system not subject to moral hazard by users?

Mortal Thoughts: Padu went on stage and then realised they were wearing too little.

Sad that they showed the world how lacking the premier national data collector and manager is. So sad and embarrassing.

Barracuda: Useless Padu! I tried once but it rejected me! I regret doing it at all as my identity card number and personal data are now compromised.

Why not just use MySejahtera which is already fool-proofed and secured?

MerelyOne: Quick question for the tech-savvy. The banks have said OTPs are not secure for transactions and forced us to load their respective apps (conveniently loaded with adverts by the way).

Why then does Padu use an OTP for the registration authentication process?

ScarletShark1551: Let’s not be too critical. This government is trying something to salvage the economy.

I don’t recall seeing the previous two governments doing anything of the sort. There was no vision, no professionalism.

They had no idea how to run a country. Let’s give Madani a chance.

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