Daily Times

It turns out, just as expected, that the cyber-attack that paralysed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Independence Day, and kept it out of commission for at least 72 hours, was the result of complete, unforgivable incompetence, perhaps even corruption. Everybody at the FBR and even in the finance ministry knew very well that it was using obsolete software and was open to risk of hacking at any point. The country’s top spy agency also warned it in no uncertain terms, and the World Bank even gave it a $400 million loan, a good $80 million of which was specifically meant to upgrade the IT system. But while nobody in the FBR or the ministry was too worried about such things, they did however use some of that money to give bonuses to their staff, but not much more is known; and it is clear as daylight that none, or at least not enough, of it went to the IT department. Reports that FBR officials followed their efforts to restore a semblance of normalcy by celebrating and congratulating everybody concerned, and even the finance minister forwarded his happiness, are very concerning indeed. Surely if the finance minister reads the papers he would know that the lion’s share of FBR’s data has been compromised and the Bureau initially tried to hide its inexcusable behaviour by creating two different silly excuses for it; which technically and legally amounted to lying about a very serious breach of national security. Perhaps this will serve as the litmus test for the government’s claims of taking the broom through inefficient outfits just like the FBR. If this episode is dismissed with a congratulatory note from the ministry concerned then some very uncomfortable questions are bound to be raised. Already Pakistanis are left wondering about how much of their data has been revealed and to whom. This episode has also suddenly made it infinitely more difficult for the government to sell its novelty of electronic voting machines to the public, especially the opposition. Therefore it must investigate the extent of the damage and make it public. Then it must also show the country just how it plans to deal with such unpardonable mistakes. *