ISLAMABAD – Payments were delayed for thousands of public sector employeeson Saturday after hackers targeted a section of the state-owned NationalBank of Pakistan (NBP).
Reports in local media said the National Bank of Pakistan came under acyberattack, which affected its services however the customers’ depositsand data have so far remained ‘safe’.
A statement issued following the cyberattack cited “Currently, the NBP’sservices to its customers are disrupted, but we are working to address thebreach and remain confident that essential customer services will berestored by Monday morning”.
“NBP has reported a cybersecurity-related incident which is beinginvestigated. NBP has not observed any data breach or financial loss. Noother bank has reported any such incidence. SBP is monitoring the situationclosely to ensure safety and soundness of banking system,” the State Banksaid in a recent tweet.
A senior official of NBP confirmed the cyber attack saying the hackersfailed to gain access to the main servers, though they did take control ofsome of the computers.
Meanwhile, the experts are monitoring the situation closely to ensure thesafety and soundness of the banking system. Foreign and local experts arealso working to disinfect the system.
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Reports further added that the recent attack is similar to the oneencountered by the Federal Board of Revenue.
Pakistan’s state-run bank has invested heavily in its cyber security inrecent times. It also denied reports of a data breach when skimming deviceswere found on one of its ATMs in the federal capital.
The cyberattack hits at a time when the South Asian country is aggressivelylooking to adopt the digital mode of payments, with the regulators andauthorities pushing for ways to increase documentation of the economy.
