This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 27, 2026 - August 2, 2026

Last week, Maxis Bhd (KL:MAXIS) issued an apology after details of entrepreneur and influencer Khairul Aming’s personal phone bill were leaked on social media.

In a statement on Tuesday, the telecommunications company (telco) said it had identified the individual linked to the unauthorised disclosure of account information and was taking immediate action, including legal proceedings.

“All access to customer accounts is fully logged and monitored. Our findings indicate that this is an isolated incident involving an unauthorised action. There is no indication of any broader incident involving other customers,” it said.

It may well be an isolated incident, but this is unlikely to provide much comfort to consumers. Trust, once shaken, leaves lingering doubts.

The episode raises uncomfortable questions for every organisation entrusted with sensitive personal data — be they telcos, banks, insurers or hospitals. How tightly is access to customer information controlled? How many people can view it? How quickly are unusual access patterns detected? And how can customers be confident that their personal data is not being misused or disclosed without authorisation?

In recent years, companies have invested heavily in defending against cyberattacks. Yet, incidents like this are a reminder that sophisticated hackers are not always the biggest risk. Sometimes, the greatest vulnerability lies within an organisation itself — whether through negligence, abuse of access or failures in internal controls.

Khairul, in seeking accountability over what happened, has instructed his lawyers to issue a legal notice to Maxis. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission is also investigating the incident.

If the case proceeds to court, findings from the investigation into what happened would be made public. Regardless of the outcome, the incident should prompt companies to ask a harder question: are they investing as much in monitoring who accesses customer data as they are in keeping hackers out?

Consumers deserve to know that the people entrusted with their personal information are subject to safeguards that are as strong as those designed to keep cybercriminals out.

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