Photo : TDM
There is a fear of major cyber-attacks in the country by August 15. Citizens are worried about what will happen. Public and private institutions are also in fear. However, the cyber-crime special department of the police says that sufficient preparations have been made to deal with it.
The warning was issued on Friday in a press release on cyber security from the government's Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov Cirt). The warning signed by Mohammad Saiful Alam Khan, director of BGD E-Gov Cirt Project, said on July 31, that a hacker group said that there is a danger of cyber-attack on the cyber world of Bangladesh on August 15.
All government institutions, banks, insurance and financial institutions of the country have been advised to be cautious.
In this context, Mohammad Tarek Bin Rashid, Deputy Commissioner of Police, DB Cyber and Special Crime Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told The Daily Messenger, "We have asked all our units to manage information carefully, so that no information can be hacked."
When asked whether their preparations are sufficient, he said, "Our preparations are sufficient. Every unit has been alerted”.
When asked why the hacker group chose August 15, he said,
In replying why the hackers have chisen August 15, he said "May be they may have chosen this day for a specific purpose."
Cyber security expert Sumon Ahmed Sabir told TDM, "Since the threat has become known, everyone needs to be prepared. Because, we have many loopholes at the public and private level in dealing with cyber-attacks”.
He said that there is a shortage of skilled manpower.
“We can't do everything now, we need to plan for the future and do regular training and monitoring. There is no such authority for these who will audit and monitor them”.
Regarding what ordinary citizens should do, he said, everyone needs to have an idea about cyber security, what kind of behavior should be on social media, how to verify truth and falsehood etc. Students can be trained in this regard, they will spread that awareness among the parents.
Abdul Hamid Sohag, Head of Mercantile Bank's Public Relations Department, told TDM, "We have a separate domain for each of us, through which we do our work. If no one in the bank leaks information, no one from outside can. We're not even using Gmail right now. After Bangladesh Bank's warning, we are in a hundred percent alert position”.
Saiful Alam Khan, project director of BGD e-Gov Cirt, told the media on Friday, “We regularly monitor the websites. This is our regular work. Following this, we recently saw messages related to cyber-attacks in various groups. Among the hacker groups I found several South Asian and Middle Eastern hackers involved with it. And they are active. We are cautious about this”.
BGD e-Gov Cert has alerted banks and financial institutions, healthcare and all types of government and private organizations with critical information infrastructure to be protected from potential cyber-attacks. Besides, it has been advised to take necessary precautions to protect their own infrastructure.
According to Cirt's press release, this hacker group calls itself 'hacktivists'. And they targeted Bangladesh and Pakistan. BGD e-Gov Cirt said their recent research has identified several hacker groups influenced by the same ideology have been conducting regular cyber-attacks against various organizations in Bangladesh.
In the screenshot provided by BGD e-Gov Cirt in their press release, it can be seen that the threat actors claimed to be an Indian hacker group.
TDM/SD
