Major Pakistani Banks Data got Hacked, as per FIA Official

Major security breach led to hacking of data of most Pakistani banks, as per a media report on Tuesday (i.e. November 6, 2018), that quoted a senior official of cybercrime. The disclosure comes when around 10 banks have blocked all the international transactions of their cards, after concerns regarding breach of debit and credit card data, reported Geo News.

In one of the shocking revelation, Capt Mohammad Shoaib, Cybercrime Wing Director of the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency), said that "according to a recent report we have received, data from almost all Pakistani banks has been reportedly hacked". Shoaib said that the Federal Investigation Agency has already written to all the banks, and a meeting has been called between banks' heads and the security managements.

Shoaib said that "banks are the custodians of the money people have stored in them". He also added that the banks are responsible in case their weak security features result in pilferage. The official stated last week that a gang, whose members after collecting the people's data and disguising themselves as the army officials used to withdraw money from the banks, has been arrested.

Several commercial banks have informed the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) that the international payments on credit and debit cards have been blocked by them as a safety precaution, following the cyber attacks on their clients' accounts, reported the Dawn quoting sources.

Data of more than 8,000 account holders of around 10 banks of Pakistan was sold in the hackers market, as per the report that quoted krebsonsecurity.com, a website of digital security.

On October 27, 2018, Banklslami reported first case of cyber attack on a Pakistani bank. The bank said a theft of Rs. 2.6 million was done from the international payment cards, soon after which it stopped all such transactions. It only allowed payments through ATM cards that are biometrically verified within Pakistan, said the report.

The next day, the SBP (i.e. the Central Bank) issued its directives for all the banks in order to ensure that the security measures of all the information technology systems - including card operations related - were continuously updated for meeting the future challenges and ensuring the real-time monitoring of the card operations related systems and its transactions. The report said that they have been asked to coordinate immediately with all integrated payment schemes, media service providers and switch operators.

» SPAMfighter News - 11/21/2018