'Bangladesh banks ‘ignorant’ about cyber security'
Bank officials in Bangladesh are largely ‘ignorant’ about cyber security in financial institutions, a research by the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) has revealed.
Of the bank officials surveyed, some 28 percent were found ‘totally ignorant’ and another 20 percent ‘ignorant’. Only 20 percent respondents showed ‘some knowledge’ on the issue.
The research findings were released at a workshop in Dhaka on Tuesday, as ransomware ‘WannaCry’ attacks hit over 100 countries. The malware has reportedly affected dozens of computers in Bangladesh.
Associate Professor of BIBM Mahbubur Rahman Alam and Naj Ahmed of NajDac Technologies presented two papers at the workshop held at BIBM auditorium in Mirpur.
Among the 21 banks sampled, 14 were private, three public sector and as many international banks.
The research also showed that only four percent of the bank officials have ‘very sound knowledge’, 10 percent ‘sound knowledge’ and 16 percent have ‘some knowledge’ about the cyber security issues.
Some 90 percent of the respondents, however, said the “the risk of cyber attacks in the banking sector is increasing by the day”.
Chief guest at the workshop, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank SK Sur Chowdhury said, “Almost Tk 300 billion has been spent in past few years on cyber security and Tk 15 billion yearly on the maintenance of IT department.”
But, he was disappointed that the spending has not produced the desired result.
“Still, many banks have failed to reach the security standards set out in the guidelines of the central bank. For this reason, the banking sector is still at the risk of cyber attacks,” he added.
Source: https://dailyasianage.com