Almost All Pakistani Banks Hacked, Data of Customers Stolen In Major Security Breach: Report
Islamabad: In a major security breach, data of most of the banks operating in Pakistan has been hacked, a media report said Tuesday quoting a senior cyber crime official.
The disclosure comes days after around 10 banks blocked all international transactions on their cards, following concerns raised about a breach of credit and debit card data, Geo News reported.
In a shocking revelation, Director of cyber crime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Capt Mohammad Shoaib said: "According to a recent report we have received, data from almost all Pakistani banks has been reportedly hacked".
He said the FIA has written to all banks, and a meeting of the banks' heads and security managements was being called.
"Banks are the custodians of the money people have stored in them," Shoaib said, adding they are also responsible if their security features are weak that they result in pilferage.
Last week, the official said, a gang was arrested, whose members used to disguise themselves as army officials and withdraw money from banks after collecting people's data.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been informed by several commercial banks that they have blocked international payments on debit and credit cards as a precautionary measure following cyber attacks on the accounts of their clients, the Dawn reported quoting sources.
Data of over 8,000 account holders of about 10 Pakistani banks was sold in a market of hackers, the report said quoting a digital security website krebsonsecurity.com.
The first case of a cyber attack on a Pakistan's bank was reported by BankIslami on October 27.
The bank said that Rs 2.6 million was stolen from international payment cards after which it has stopped such transactions and allowed biometrically verified payments only on ATM cards within Pakistan, the report said.
The following day, the central bank (SBP) issued directives to all banks to ensure that security measures on all information technology systems including those related to card operations are continuously updated to meet future challenges, ensure real-time monitoring of card operations related systems and transactions.
They were asked to immediately coordinate with all the integrated payment schemes, switch operators and media service providers, the report said.
Courtesy: www.news18.com
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
