Govt bans Waze use among civil servants, urges switch to TuJu

KUALA LUMPUR – The government has ordered all civil servants to stop using the navigation application Waze with immediate effect, following a decision by the National Cyber Security Committee (JKSN). Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said the decision was made at a JKSN meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday. In a circular issued to heads of departments, Shamsul Azri said the committee had decided to prohibit the use of Waze, which he described as being based in Israel, among members of the public service. “In this regard, all ministry secretaries-general and heads of departments must ensure that this decision is communicated to all officers under their supervision, including relevant agencies and departments, for immediate implementation. “Your cooperation and serious attention in ensuring full compliance with this decision at the respective ministries, departments and agencies are greatly appreciated,” he said. The Prime Minister’s Department confirmed the circular when contacted by Berita Harian. Shamsul Azri said enquiries or requests for further clarification on the implementation of the directive could be directed to the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA), under the National Security Council (MKN) in the Prime Minister’s Department, which is coordinating the measure. The directive follows Anwar’s statement yesterday urging the public to use TuJu, a local navigation application developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM), as an alternative to Waze. Anwar said the proposal was driven by concerns over information security and the handling of Malaysians’ movement data, as Waze is subject to Israeli government laws. He said the initiative was important to ensure that the digitalisation of public services continued to benefit the people without compromising national security, public trust and national sovereignty. Other matters discussed at yesterday’s JKSN meeting included the implementation of the Cyber Security Act 2024, MyDigital ID security, preparations for quantum computing threats through post-quantum cryptography (PQC), emerging threats posed by autonomous artificial intelligence, and the protection of National Critical Information Infrastructure (NCII). – October 21, 2026 The post Govt bans Waze use among civil servants, urges switch to TuJu appeared first on Scoop .