ISLAMABAD – In one of the biggest leaks in Pakistan’s banking history,around 69,189 bank card details have been leaked to the internet. Anestimate according to Group-IB, which made this revelation, puts thecombined worth of the cards at a staggering $3.5 million. Around 96% of thecard details belong to Meezan Bank alone.
Group-IB specializes in preventing cyber-attacks and according to thecompany, these bank card details have emerged on the dark web and are nowup for grabs. This is the second biggest sale of bank account info fromPakistan from the past 6 months which may give indications that there is acombined threat to our financial sector at large.
According to a statement from Meezan Bank to ProPakistanilink,they are already aware of the stated situation but have noticed no anomalyin their systems. To tackle the previous leak, they not only asked users tochange their PIN codes but also included several security measures tofurther encrypt transactions. They have also introduced a SkimGuard servicewhich protects high-value transactions.
The first set of card dumps was leaked to the Dark Web on 24th January 2019and it had details of 1,535 cards of which Meezan Bank issued 1,457. Thesecond dump was a huge one having details of more than 67,654 cards. Eachcard is being sold at $50 because it also includes the PIN code.
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Pakistan’s institutions seriously need to up their game if this is to beconsidered a coordinated attack. If you are from Meezan bank, we wouldadvise you to change your PIN code immediately to avoid any untowardsituation.
