ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance and Revenue revealed on Wednesday that official data including email correspondence with friendly countries and financial institutions was hacked three months ago.
“The hacker claimed to have provided 72GB official data with us from 2012 to 2022 having official correspondence,” said Aamir Atta, CEO of a social media company, on Tuesday night.
“We validated it and published it later,” he added, adding that it was ironic since cyber attacks were prevalent, releasing enormous amounts of data.
The hacker contacted a Pakistani social networking platform and shared only a sample of data with it. It was confirmed to be official correspondence from the finance ministry including sensitive information regarding a variety of vital topics concerning Pakistan’s economy and security.
Initially, a ministry spokeswoman disputed it, claiming that nothing of the sort had occurred. When reached, a senior official stated that the ministry would publish a statement soon.
Later, the ministry published a statement in response to social media reports of a hacking effort and leak of government data.
It was emphasized that this news item is about a hacking incident that occurred three months ago. Following that, immediate action was taken, and a full cyber security audit was performed. The news’ authenticity was not proven.
Meanwhile, the Finance Division has implemented many procedures and regulations to further strengthen the cyber security of its IT infrastructure and official data, according to the statement.
