State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak has attributed the issue of data leakage from a government website to non-compliance with CERT instructions and technical errors.
“This was not a result of hacking but rather a system vulnerability that exposed personal information of citizens on the government portal,” he said.
The state minister said this while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural function of the ‘Bangabandhu International Cyber Security Awareness Award 2023’, in collaboration with UNDP Bangladesh, held at the Bangladesh Computer Council Auditorium on Sunday.
TechCrunch, an American online news platform focusing on high tech and startups, reported on July 7 that a Bangladeshi government website has leaked the personal information including full names, phone numbers, email addresses, and national ID numbers of millions of Bangladeshi citizens.
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TechCrunch said it was able to verify that the leaked data was “legitimate” through using a portion to query a public search tool on the affected website. The government website apparently returned other data contained in the leaked database, such as the name of the person who applied to register, as well as — in some cases — names of their parents.
Palak said a 'Data Protection Act' is in its final stage. “The act aims to incorporate necessary precautions to prevent such unwanted incidents in the future and ensure the integrity of data,” he said.
Palak emphasized the importance of establishing CERT (Computer Incident Response Team) teams within every institution for safeguarding and overseeing the protection of 29 sensitive information infrastructures (CII).
These teams would operate under the guidance of CERT, organized by the ICT department, he said.
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Stressing the significance of awareness and technical knowledge in data protection, Palak stated that a collective effort is required to maintain a safe cyber world. He identified four levels of focus—individual, family, institutional, and society—and urged people to prioritize them.
"We need to raise awareness to protect ourselves from cyber attacks. If someone intends to steal money or information, they can accomplish it through a cyber attack," Palak said.
He further emphasized the need to educate the young generation on topics such as digital signatures, cyber security, and responsible social media usage. He also highlighted the importance of technical competence and stressed that securing national cyberspace requires collaborative efforts, “as no country can achieve it alone.”
The event, chaired by Information and Communication Technology Department Secretary Md. Samsul Arefin, was attended by Mohammad Rezaul Karim, Managing Director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, Abu Saeed Md. Kamruzzaman, Director General of Digital Security Agency, Ranjit Kumar, Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council, Van N Nguyen, Deputy Resident Representative of Bangladesh, and Sadat Rahman, the recipient of the International Children's Peace Prize, among others.