Janata Bank Website Hit by Cyberattack Despite Precautionary Security Measures

PNN News Desk | Dhaka

Following international warnings about cybersecurity risks, the state-owned Janata Bank had temporarily shut down its website as a precautionary measure. Despite this step, signs of cyberattacks have been detected in at least two locations on the website. The bank's information technology staff are working to identify the security vulnerabilities and restore the website safely.

Although banking operations resumed on Sunday (October 25) after the holidays, Janata Bank's website had still not been restored by 11:30 a.m. A senior official from the bank's IT department said signs of attacks had been found in two areas of the site. Work is underway to identify the problems and restore security. The officials hope to make the website secure and operational by the end of the day.

However, no official statement was available from the bank regarding the incident. With the position of managing director vacant, it was not possible to obtain a comment from the relevant senior management level.

On October 19, the government cancelled the remaining term of the appointment of Janata Bank's then managing director, Mojibur Rahman. The following day, a five-day holiday began in the banking sector, combining the Durga Puja holiday with the regular weekly holidays.

The security problems affecting Janata Bank's website came to light at a time when international concerns about cyberattacks had intensified following the discovery of two serious security vulnerabilities in PHP, a widely used programming language.

On October 21, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and relevant international organisations issued a joint warning about the vulnerabilities. The warning stated that hackers could exploit the weaknesses to execute malicious code remotely on affected servers. It also advised organisations to temporarily disconnect vulnerable applications from the internet if security updates or patches could not be applied promptly.

Following the warning, Bangladesh Bank and Janata Bank had temporarily shut down their websites for general users from Thursday to strengthen security.

After the holidays, Bangladesh Bank's website resumed normal operations on Sunday, but Janata Bank's site remained inaccessible. Following the discovery of indications of malware infection and security problems, technical teams have been working to resolve the vulnerabilities before bringing the website back online.

Cybersecurity experts say that, in such situations, it is important to identify risks affecting the compromised server, remove malicious code and update security measures. Officials concerned expect that Janata Bank's website will be fully restored only after these tasks are completed.

However, it has not yet been confirmed whether the attack detected on Janata Bank's website was directly connected to the widely discussed PHP security vulnerabilities.