BUKIT MERTAJAM: The state government has refuted claims that the technical error on Penang Smart Parking (PSP) was caused by a cyber attack.

       State Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the matter has been resolved and the system is back to normal again.

       "The record in the database of the system and the balance of the ewallet were not affected at all. There are no changes at the back end of the system. In short, the database is intact," he said at a press conference at Bandar Perda on Thursday (Jan 20).

       Jagdeep said users who were unable to pay their parking fees at that time would not be penalised by the city councils in Penang Island and Seberang Prai.

       However, he said those who were fined during that period should come forward and that the local authorities would resolve the issue.

       PSP users got a rude shock on Wednesday (Jan 19) morning when their ewallet balance showed RM4.40 for everyone, regardless of their actual balance in the app.

       A message about the technical issue, claiming that the parking app has been hacked, went viral on social media and WhatsApp.

       PSP however, in its Facebook page, clarified that the app was facing some technical issues.

       In the same press conference, Heitech Padu Berhad executive vice president Abdul Halim Md Lassim apologised for any inconvenience caused by the technical issue.

       He assured that the system was operational again and that the technical glitch was not caused by a cyber attack or any internal breach within the system.

       "The problem is only on the display of the ewallet system in the app. During the incident, users can still conduct transactions as usual," he said.

       Abdul Halim said the technical issue has been resolved and the actual balance of users ewallet has been restored to normal through the company database as of Jan 20.