Govt entities shun responsibility amid growing concerns

Staff Reporter  :
In a shocking revelation, sensitive information belonging to millions of Bangladeshi citizens has been leaked from websites, prompting concerns about the vulnerability of the system of handling public information.

However, the government entities involved in the matter seem to be deflecting responsibility rather than taking immediate action.
Primarily two servers – Birth and Death Registration and Land Ministry – have been identified for the exposure of the information, sources said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has distanced itself from the incident, stating that the National Identity (NID) Card mechanism is not under its control, but falls under the purview of the NID Registration Wing under the Election Commission.

On the other hand, the NID Wing claims that its server system is completely secure and cannot be hacked. This raises suspicions that the leakage may have occurred through other entities responsible for handling public information on the websites.

However, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has acknowledged the incident, but labeled it as a result of the ‘vulnerability of the system’, rather than a hacking incident.

ICT Minister Junaid Ahmed Palak said, “It was a technical flaw that made the information on the website easily accessible, meaning all information was exposed. It is difficult to label it as hacking because hacking involves unauthorised entry into a system.”

“It is regrettable. Regardless of whose fault it is, the nation has suffered. The image of the country has been tarnished,” stated the Minister.
Referring to the incident, he mentioned that there is no opportunity to evade responsibility, saying, “There should have an effort to ensure safety, but that did not happen. Therefore, there is no opportunity to evade responsibility.”

Meanwhile, Director General of the National Identity Registration Wing, AKM Humayun Kabir, said that no information has been leaked from the Election Commission’s server.
“Our server is secure. There is no direct linkage between the NID server and other ones. We have partnership with 171 entities. If evidence of such leakage is found from them, we will suspend the service from that source,” he told the journalists at his office in Agargaon Election Commission Secretariat.

Regarding the importance of citizens’ sensitive information, the DG stated, “The NID server is not under any threat. It has no direct connection with the website. The NID is a separate site. The NID server does not have the opportunity to access billions of data. There is no direct connection between our NID server and any other server.”
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in his ministry on Sunday has stated that the cyber units have started working on the issue of NID information leakage.
“The NID service is not under our jurisdiction; we have not yet started the process. This matter is still with the Election Commission. There are certain legal complexities that need to be resolved. Once that is done, it will come to our Home Ministry. Only then can we work fully,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said, “We have heard about the issues (information leakage) you are talking about. We need to know the details about it. We don’t have the detailed information at the moment. We are hearing it in the same way you are. I don’t have any information like giving answers without knowing.”
“We need to see what happened, how much information leaked. If we see that someone is involved, if someone has assisted in it – then, of course, we will take action according to the law. In that case, we will not spare anyone. You have seen that. We will investigate the entire matter and make necessary arrangements,” the Home Minister said.
In response to another question, he said, “We need to see what has been leaked, what protections we have. We will take the necessary measures. There will be no gaps. We will ensure the protection.”