ISLAMABAD: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has faced a cyberattack but
no financial losses have been reported so far.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said this in a tweet on late Saturday night,
adding that an investigation is underway.
The SBP said that NBP’s customer service was distrusted after the attack, which
would be restored by Monday (today).
“NBP has reported a cyber-security related incident which is being investigated.
NBP has not observed any data breach or financial loss,” SBP said on Twitter. “No
other bank has reported any such incidence. SBP is monitoring the situation closely
to ensure safety and soundness of banking system.”
The NBP said an attack on its servers was detected in the late hours of October 29
and early morning of the 30th “which impacted some of it’s services.” Immediate
steps were taken to isolate the affected systems, the bank added.
“At this point, no customer or financial data has been compromised. Remediation
efforts are underway using industry-leading subject matter experts including
international resources wherever required,” NBP said. “We are grateful for the
understanding of our customers in this unusual situation and remain committed to
the safety of their trust that they repose in National Bank of Pakistan.”
National Bank of Pakistan is a leading financial institution with 1,512 branches in
the country and 21 overseas branches. Poor IT infrastructure has made the banks
victims of frequent cyberattacks, with industry experts estimating that cyber
warfare costs local banks around a billion rupees in losses each year.
More than 628 defacement attacks were reported between January and September
last year that changed the visual appearance of a website or a web page, according
to data from cybersecurity services provider Pakistan Computer Emergency
Response Team (PakCERT). The attacks have increased after the Covid-19
outbreak last February and subsequent lockdowns which increased online
transactions.
