Bank accounts at hacking risk

Due to leakage of citizen info

Mahfuja Mukul: Recently, US technology media TechCrunch has reported that the personal information of millions of citizens of the country has been leaked. Various information including names, addresses, birth certificates, mobile and passport numbers, fingerprints of these citizens are now open. According to the leaked information, these data are usually stored in the National Identity Card Department of the Election Commission. If this information is available, ordinary citizens will be easily deceived. IT experts also said that any citizen can get trapped without committing a crime.
Experts say that this information can now pose financial and other security risks to individuals. A bank loan or financial transaction is also possible in the name of the person without his knowledge. Besides, access to applications through social media, applications can be modified or deleted with this information. Someone else can take illegal advantage in taking various services including birth registration record verification, getting driving license, passport, land sale. Also, various types of fraud can occur after gaining the trust that all the information is by calling the unsuspecting people. Again, someone else can use his information to commit a crime, the victim of which will be the real person. That is, when information is exposed, there is scope for misuse in various types of information-dependent services.
Asia-Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC) executive member and cyber security expert Suman Ahmed Sabir told Daily Industry that information is required for password or account recovery in the case of banking transactions. If hackers steal all the information of a person, it is possible to steal other people’s accounts through it. Also, those who shop online and pay through mobile banking or other means will also be at risk. Again, hackers can take out credit cards in your name with leaked information. Or they can steal your credit card information and launder money.
Techno Haven Co. Limited’s founder and CEO Habibullah N Karim told that with this information, one can open a bank account in the name of another and take a loan. It has happened before. But it is now possible on a mass scale. It is possible to put a person in danger by targeting. It is also possible to withdraw money in the online banking of a person who has money.
He said, besides this information, a person will increase the risk of digital identity theft. Cybercriminals appear to hack mail accounts, create fake social media accounts, or modify or delete applications. Criminals will steal one’s account.
Zubair Ahmed, founder and CEO of Rednote Services Limited told, “With the National ID card number, many things can be done in the country – in other words, almost all informational tasks can be done. Starting from SIM registration, many important tasks are done only with this ID card number. These activities are now in jeopardy. Anyone can use SIM on someone else’s number. It is even possible to commit a crime with it, which will victimize the main person.’
Muhammad Ershadul Karim, a senior lecturer at the Department of Technology at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, said that financial and other security risks may be created for individuals related to information. Fraud can occur after calling unsuspecting people and making them believe that they have all the information. It has happened before. Now it will increase.
He said, besides, there is scope for misuse in various government services that rely on information. Government institutions are also under these risks. Their (government institutions) security risk may increase due to this. Criminals will continue to look for opportunities.
TechCrunch, an online media based on information technology in the United States, published a report on July 7 about the issue of information leakage of Bangladeshi citizens caught by Victor. According to the organization, there has been an incident of information leakage from a website of Bangladesh government. However, TechCrunch did not disclose from which website the information was leaked. After the publication of the news in the Bangladeshi media, the first working day of the week, Sunday (July 9), was discussed in various circles throughout the day. Although the government admitted the information leak, no one took the responsibility.
Data loss from public and private institutions is not new. As a private company, data of 3 billion customers of Yahoo has been leaked. In 2018, 110 million Aadhaar card data of India and 198 million voters of the United States were leaked from government agencies. According to that, if the information of five crore people of Bangladesh is leaked, it will be one of the biggest leaks. In 2017, the phone numbers of 46 million people were leaked in Malaysia, which caused a huge stir.
On what to do now, Habibullah N Karim said, those whose information has been leaked, need to be informed personally. So that they can take measures to prevent risks. The government needs utmost sincerity in this regard.
Muhammad Ershadul Karim said that there is not much to be done except for maximum precautions. Seeing this incident as more of a ‘wake up call’ (warning message) requires a credible investigation and consequences.
Experts say that if a person fears that his information has been leaked, he needs to inform the institutions or organizations from which he used the information and change the information quickly. For example, cyber security experts suggest linking the amount of the last banking transaction, a special body mark or other such information to confirm the identity.
They also say that the opportunity has come to warn everyone by setting a precedent by punishing those involved or negligent according to the law. Otherwise, such incidents will continue to happen.