Major security breach, data of almost all banks hacked [source: financialexpress]

In a major security breach, data of most of the banks operating in Pakistan has been hacked, a media report said Tuesday quoting a senior cyber crime official. The disclosure comes days after around 10 banks blocked all international transactions on their cards, following concerns raised about a breach of credit and debit card data, Geo News reported.

In a shocking revelation, Director of cyber crime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Capt Mohammad Shoaib said: “According to a recent report we have received, data from almost all Pakistani banks has been reportedly hacked”. He said the FIA has written to all banks, and a meeting of the banks’ heads and security managements was being called. “Banks are the custodians of the money people have stored in them,” Shoaib said, adding they are also responsible if their security features are weak that they result in pilferage.

Last week, the official said, a gang was arrested, whose members used to disguise themselves as army officials and withdraw money from banks after collecting people’s data. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been informed by several commercial banks that they have blocked international payments on debit and credit cards as a precautionary measure following cyber attacks on the accounts of their clients, the Dawn reported quoting sources.