ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing Director Captain (r) Mohammad Shoaib on Tuesday revealed that customers’ data from almost all major Pakistani banks was stolen in a recent security breach. “Almost all [Pakistani] banks’ data has been breached. According to the reports that we have, most of the banks have been affected,” Shoaib told a private television channel. The official’s comments followed a recent report from Group-IB, a global cyber security firm, saying that hackers had released a new dump of Pakistani credit and debit cards on dark web forums. By the end of last week, at least six Pakistani banks had suspended usage of their debit cards outside the country and blocked all international transactions on their cards. Concerns about a breach of credit and debit card data spread in the banking circles, after a cyber attack on Bank Islami last week that siphoned off at least Rs 2.6 million from its accounts. The cyber-crime chief did not reveal exactly when the security breach took place that had affected most Pakistani banks. “More than 100 cases have been registered with the FIA and are under investigation. We have made several arrests in the case, including that of an international gang [last month],” Shoaib said. He said the FIA had written to the banks in question and was summoning banks’ representatives to discuss the situation. The official pointed out that banks were responsible for ensuring security of their clients’ data. If a bank’s security infrastructure is weak then the bank is to be held responsible for any breach, he added. The cyber-crime chief further said that a group of hackers was recently arrested which used to disguise themselves to con people. In a latest development to the fake bank accounts saga, authorities on Tuesday revealed that accounts of different individuals in Islamabad had been hacked with the amounts withdrawn. According to media reports, the revelation was made by the cyber crime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), after it received complaints from several individuals. The agency further said it has registered cases and begun investigation. On Monday, the former chief scientist of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan, saying Rs3 million had ‘vanished’ from his back account. Earlier, a local Islamic bank lost Rs 800 million after a cyber attack on the data of its payment card. Following the theft, several banks in the country suspended all transactions that took place through the international payment scheme. Last month, a man who shared his bank account details over the phone was deprived of Rs 2 million after he was threatened by an unidentified caller. In the wake of news reports regarding security breach of customer data of major banks, Askari Bank clarified that no such incident had been reported at the bank and the data of all customers was secure. “Askari bank is always vigilant when it comes to the security of customers’ confidential data and has taken all precautionary measures to protect the interest of its customers,” a statement said. Published in Daily Times, November 7th 2018.