No data leaked from Election Commission's server: NID DG

Director General of National Identity Card (NID) Registration Division AKM Humayun Kabir has claimed that no data was leaked from the Election Commission’s server.

He made this demand to the newsmen at the media center of the Election Commission Secretariat at Agargaon in the capital on Sunday.

Humayun Kabir said, “No information has been leaked from the server of the Election Commission. However, we work in collaboration with some 171 partners. It would be investigated whether information is being leaked by them. If any evidence of information leakage is found by any of the associate partners, the service will be halted from him/her.”

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak earlier in the day said no government website had been hacked and that the personal information of citizens was exposed because of security vulnerabilities.

Efforts were underway to resolve the issue, the state minister added.

Researcher Viktor Markopoulos from Bitcrack Cyber Security accidentally discovered the leak on June 27 and promptly informed the Bangladeshi e-Government Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT), TechCrunch, an online portal focusing on high tech, reported.

Markopoulos revealed that the leaked data comprises the details of millions of Bangladeshi citizens. Shockingly, anyone can visit the website and find citizens’ names, dates of birth, and NID numbers by simply conducting a Google search.

TechCrunch conducted its investigation to validate the authenticity of the leaked data. However, the outlet refrained from disclosing the name of the specific website as the data is still accessible online, as confirmed by Markopoulos.

In response to the news of the massive data breach, CIRT took action by acknowledging the matter and launching a comprehensive investigation.

In a press release on Saturday, CIRT emphasized its commitment to ensuring cybersecurity and protecting citizens’ data.

“It is crucial for all stakeholders to collaborate and support CIRT’s efforts to rectify the situation, implement necessary security measures and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future,” the press release read.