The recent coordinated cyber attack, conducted by a group of Indian hackers, has resulted in data breaches across 25 public and private institutions within Bangladesh while simultaneously exposing the dire state of cyber security in our country.
While the government has time and again stated that draconian laws such as the soon to be scrapped Digital Security Act were meant to provide security from cyber crime, including cyber attacks, the truth is that such laws have accomplished very little to that end.
It becomes even more troubling when the nature of the recent attacks have seen institutions such as Investment Corporation of Bangladesh and the Directorate General of Health Services be targeted, institutions which carry a lot of sensitive information pertaining to the nation.
Clearly a renewed focus on cyber security is now in order.
Even though there is a lot of justified skepticism surrounding the newly formulated Cyber Security Act regarding the extent to which it can be considered a new law, given the recent emergence of high profile cyber attacks, we urge the government to pivot its goals and priorities, when it comes to security in the digital sphere, away from draconian provisions and towards protecting our citizens and our institutions from bad actors online.
We have never been opposed to ensuring cyber-security, in fact, given the steady proliferation of the internet in the past decades, its importance has never been higher as it is now. And now that Bangladesh is increasingly making its presence known in the global sphere, attacks such as those from August 15 can be expected to become more regular.
When it comes to cyber-security, the government needs to understand where the priorities truly lie.
