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No cyberattack but weak data depository is to blame for the leak of personal data of 'millions' of citizens of Bangladesh, government's ICT ministry says amid crosscurrents of official views.
Ruling out the possibility of hacking by cybercriminals, State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak at an event Sunday blamed weakness in the relevant organisation's website security behind the incident which analysts link to matters of "national security".
"The website where the information was made public did not even have the minimum security certificate-it was supposed to have," he said.
The initial investigation has not found any particular incidence of hacking, he added.
An official at Bangladesh Computer Council's e-Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-GOV CIRT) said they asked the authorities concerned to look into the matter and take possible measures.
However, a technical team at CIRT has been working to identify the actual reasons for the 'data breach'.
Claiming the national identity (NID) server of the Election Commission (EC) as safe and secure, AKM Humayun Kabir, director-general of EC's national identity registration wing, said they did not face any problem with their data centre or management.
"Strong security measures remain in place for the NID server," he told journalists, adding that no imminent threat has been found in the NID server.
Confirming reliability of the security of the EC server, he at a press conference said he would take advice from IT experts to strengthen more the server's security.
"Some 171 organisations and agencies avail information services from us. There is no threat to our server," said the DG. Even then, if anyone is found responsible by any means, necessary steps will be taken.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the government wouldn't spare if anyone found to have collaborated for the NID information leak.
"After investigating into the matter, if anyone is found connected or have collaborated in this, they will have to face punishment as per the law," said the minister, as the matter still remained cloaked in mystery.
He assured that the ministry would take all necessary actions in this regard after gathering detailed information involving the information leak.
The minister for homeland security made the remarks while responding to queries from journalists at his Secretariat office on the day.
Relevant cyber units have already started working to investigate and take next course of actions, he said.
Replying to a query, the minister said NID system management is now under the purview of the home ministry. However, it has yet to begin its operation in this connection.
This is still the responsibility of the Election Commission, he said about the recent switch and added: "After addressing some legal complications, the NID management will come to the Ministry of Home Affairs soon."
They came up with the reaction a day after the news of huge personal information leak broke from abroad.
A US-based technology news portal on Friday reported that information of millions of people has been leaked through the website of a government organisation in Bangladesh. However, the portal did not disclose the name of the website for security reasons.
Getting informed, the BGD e-GOV CIRT team on Saturday began investigating into this matter.
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