The website of Bangladesh Bank on Thursday was temporarily shut down to avoid the risk of a cyber attack.
The website could not be accessed as Bangladesh Bank stated that this step was taken to review security risks and ensure necessary safeguard measures.
Upon accessing the central bank's main website (bb.org.bd), a message reading: "The Service is under Maintenance" is displayed. Below it, it further states: "Our service is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance. We will be back online shortly. Thank you for your patience. Bangladesh Bank."
In other words, the service has been temporarily suspended for scheduled maintenance work and will be back online soon.
Arief Hossain Khan, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, told reporters: "Bangladesh Bank's website has been kept offline to avoid the risk of a global cyber attack. This step was taken as a precautionary measure to prevent security risks."
He added: "Bangladesh Bank's IT department is working to identify and resolve security vulnerabilities on the website. We hope to make the website operational again very soon."
According to a report by AFP, two critical security vulnerabilities were recently identified in PHP, a widely used programming language for website development and management.
According to cybersecurity firm Wiz, attackers could exploit these flaws to remotely execute unauthorized commands on servers. This could put server files, databases, and sensitive information at risk.
In light of this situation, government institutions in several countries, including France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, have proactively shut down their websites as a precaution.
However, identifying a security flaw does not necessarily mean a website has been attacked.
It is reported that PHP is a widely used server-side programming language.
This technology is used to run government and private institutions, news media, e-commerce platforms, and various online services. Many websites in Bangladesh are also PHP-based.
