Data of over 2m Pakistanis stolen, offered for online sale

ISLAMABAD: The data of 2.2 million Pakistani citizens has been compromised and put up for sale online after some hackers gained access to a private company-made database used by hundreds of restaurants, the Geo News reported on Wednesday.

The hackers have reportedly displayed the data of some citizens as samples in the advertisement for the online sale. “We have hacked the databases of over 250 restaurants,” the hackers claimed while naming dozens of food outlets.

The compromised citizens’ data includes their contact numbers and credit card details, while the software which has been hacked is used by hundreds of restaurants in the country. The details, including the number of times and the amount a citizen has paid, besides their addresses, phone numbers, are also available online for purchase.

The data of citizens is being offered for 2 Bitcoins, which make up to $54,000 as one Bitcoin is worth $27,000 as per the market sources. In Pakistani rupees, two Bitcoins are worth over Rs15 million.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Circle has said that no complaint has been received so far.

Saad Jangra, CEO, said no data was hacked from their system. He claimed all their data is secure, adding that the software meets all security protocols and does not store any customer’s extremely personal information. He also said that customers’ payment details are stored directly on the bank’s portal, not on the restaurant’s software.

It may be noted that the federal government on Tuesday advised all informational technology (IT) and financial institutions, including regulators, to “refrain from collaboration, installation and use of Indian origin” artificial intelligence (AI)/information and communication technology (ICT) products as it may poses a “constant, concealed and force multiplier threat” to Pakistan’s Critical Information Infrastructure (CII).

The government had informed the authorities of the threat via a “cyber security advisory” shared with federal and provincial ministries, including sectoral regulators. It noted that globally AI products and services are being used by various industries, including financial and banking sectors to accelerate enterprise growth.