Pakistan is not immune to Data Security breaches and it is pertinent to note that Pakistan has featured recently in international news stories reporting a major data breach involving almost all Pakistani banks. Conflicting reports have emerged in media on the extent of the data breach, primarily owing to inconsistent statements by authorities – which further adds to embarrassment.
It was reported by Reuters that “The skimming took details of nearly 20,000 debit and credit cards from 22 Pakistani banks, according to the Pakistan Computer Emergency Response Team (PakCERT), a monitoring group. “Additionally if we only skim media reports for year 2018, local media reported around mid year about a data breach at The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Pakistan, an independent and autonomous agency that regulates government databases and statistically manages the sensitive registration database of all the national citizens of Pakistan. As per the report by samaa.tv “Punjab’s IT board had access to NADRA records.
The board had set up mobile phone apps and gave them access to the records. Hackers got hold of this data and made quite some money out of it.” Lastly, there were some data security reports by https://www.csis.org/programs/ cybersecurity-and-governance/technology-policy-program/ other-projects-cybersecurity involving Pakistan “April 2018: Security researchers report that an Indian hacking group had been targeting government agencies and research institutions in China and Pakistan since 2013.”…Click here to read full article.
