My child’s MOE account was hacked! Homework was deleted and password changed! What should I do? 😭

All primary and secondary school students attending Malaysian government schools have a Ministry of Education (MOE) account, or an email address ending with @moe-dl.edu.my. Students use their MOE accounts to log into various school websites and government platforms (such as DELIMa), and sometimes need to submit homework or participate in activities through these accounts.

However, for the sake of convenience and saving time, some schools set up accounts with the same password or use passwords that are easy to guess, like student names or birth dates. This leaves accounts vulnerable to misuse. Some mischievous students have used their friends’ MOE accounts to log into Google Classroom and leave random comments, delete submitted homework, or even change passwords to lock out the account’s rightful owner.

What to Do If Your Child’s MOE Account is Hacked

If your child tells you their MOE account has been hacked, the first step is informing their teachers and reporting the incident to school authorities. If the school has IT-savvy teachers, they may be able to help reset passwords and retrieve accounts.

If teachers cannot resolve the issue, contact your local Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah (PPD) office. Ask the school for the PPD contact information or search online for the office nearest you. The PPD oversees educational administration for districts and can help reset your child’s password or set up a new account if needed.

Simple Precautions to Secure Your Child’s MOE Account

While most MOE account breaches are pranks, not sophisticated cyber attacks, they still cause headaches. Take simple precautions to keep your child’s account secure:

• After receiving the MOE account details from school, reset the password. Never use the default password.
• Don’t use obvious passwords others can easily guess, like birth dates or car plate numbers.
• Stress to your child that passwords should be confidential. Share a password only when absolutely necessary, just as you would a house key.
• Don’t share passwords via SMS or email, which can be hacked. Instead, share them privately and encourage your child to memorize passwords.

Building awareness around account security and other cyber risks will help prevent children from becoming targets of hackers in the future. As digital natives, equipping them with good cyber hygiene early on will stay with them for life.